


We Could Be Heroes, Just For One Day

by toad_in_the_road



Series: Firestarter [4]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Stranger Things (TV 2016), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: 80s Era, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Good Babysitter Steve Harrington, Good Parent Joyce Byers, Howard Stark's Bad Parenting, Hydra, Italian Tony Stark, Monsters, Not Season/Series 03 Compliant, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Panic Attacks, Parental Jim "Chief" Hopper, Post-Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Pre-Iron Man 1, Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington Friendship, Telekinesis, Thanos does not ruin the revengers character arcs in this one its great, Time Travel, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes, Young Tony Stark, im gay
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-25
Updated: 2020-04-08
Packaged: 2020-09-26 13:45:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 22,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20390668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/toad_in_the_road/pseuds/toad_in_the_road
Summary: "Why do we need a secret identity?" Dustin asked, looking bored with the subject."Because..." Tony paused, trying to think of the right way to put it. "Because being a hero isn't about fame or popularity. It's doing what's right because someone has to do it, and we can't wait around for a solution in good conscience when we know we can help. We don't need to put a face to the symbol. It's supposed to be a symbol, not a celebrity."There was quiet while the others considered this."And our parents will kill us if they find out." El said.Tony nodded. "That too."*** *** ***Fifteen-year-old Tony Stark has one summer to get himself together before being shipped off back to MIT. One summer to make everything change.But between a friend with telekinesis, a lesbian who can speak like eight languages, and his father always breathing down his neck, Tony has a bad feeling that the summer of '85 isn't going to be the careless one he anticipated.





	1. The Phone Call

"What?! You gave free ice cream to everyone else!" Tony protested, glaring at the girl behind the counter. 

"No, I gave free ice cream to everyone I like. I don't like you." Robin explained. 

"Steve, come on!" Tony protested, looking desperately at the teen, who was looking bemused in his tacky sailor uniform. 

Steve shrugged. "You're a multimillionaire, pay for your own ice cream. I'm not getting fired over it."

"You literally eat a bucket of ice cream every day!"

"Every second you complain, the price goes up a little more." Robin said.

"You just said I'm a multimillionaire, that shouldn't matter."

"Yeah, but I'll bet you only have so much cash in your pocket." Robin said.

Tony growled some curses, causing the people in line behind him to glare, but he reached into his pocket, dropping a crumpled five-dollar bill on the table. Robin served him a pathetic vanilla cone, topped with a few sprinkles only because Steve felt a bit sorry for him, that bastard.

Tony swiped the coins left over off the counter, and Robin quirked an eyebrow. "What, no tip?"

"Screw off." He muttered, flipping her off. The people in line gasped at his language, and Robin laughed loudly. 

Max was grinning, enjoying her massive sundae. "I told you so, she hates you." 

Tony sat down at the table with a huff, staring longingly at Dustin, Lucas and Will's matching sundaes. "I never did anything to her!"

"I think it's the principal. You know, she's kinda weird, doesn't like mainstream stuff." Lucas said.

"What the hell does that have to do with me? I don't control pop culture." He huffed.

"Yeah, but...your dad is kinda the biggest weapon producer in the world." Lucas said, sounding like he was picking his way through one of the minefields Howard Stark created.

"Yeah, well, that's not me." Tony snapped. The group decided to go silent. "Are El and Mike gonna ever come or are they too busy smooching still?"

Dustin grumbled. 

Tony would take that as a yes to the smooching option. 

Tony had decided to spend his summer in Hawkins after MIT let out for the year. He had told his father that he was in California with his friends, and Howard seemed to be fine with it, especially since it meant that Tony would be out of his hair for even longer. 

His mother, however...

That was where the complications came in. 

She insisted he call every day, so Tony had to calculate the time difference between home, Hawkins, and San Francisco to make the time believable when he called. He doubted his father checked the timestamps in the phone call during those rare times when he spoke to Tony, but Tony was petrified that when his father found out he was 'wasting his time' with a bunch of kids from a tiny town in Western Indiana, he would drag him back home, and Tony would be miserable for the rest of the summer.

Speaking of which...his watch beeped, and Tony stood suddenly. "Oh God." He moaned.

"Call time?" Max asked. Tony nodded miserably.

"See you later tonight." Will said, waving at Tony. Tony could have so easily stayed in a hotel, but God bless Joyce Byers, who absolutely insisted that Tony stay at her house, and not some random hotel. Sure, the rest of his friend's families pitched in and had Tony sleep over, but Joyce was bearing the brunt of it, seeming to take Tony as her personal project.

"Yeah, tell Mike, El and Nancy I said hi if you see them!" Tony shouted, sprinting out of the mall to the bike wrack.

*** *** ***  
Despite being seven minutes late to the phone call, Tony took his time biking back to Will's house.

He decided when he first got here that he wanted to live in a place like Hawkins when he grew up. His stress level went down miles to a level he didn't even know was possible just from not being around the commotion 24/7. It was quiet, heavenly so. And Tony loved it.

He had gotten a bike (a used bike!) when he first came down for the summer. He knew perfectly well he could drive (he was fifteen, but who was going to arrest Tony Stark?) and it would be quicker, but...

Everyone else rode their bikes, except for Max sometimes skateboarding to show off. Tony would be loathed to admit it, but he liked riding through the tiny town, waving at a few of the people who knew him not as Tony Stark, Howard Stark's son, but as Tony Stark who just happened to have the same name, a nice boy from out of town who was friends with the local kids and visiting for the summer and happened to be very good at fixing things, as shown when he easily repaired a stoplight that had been giving the town trouble since it was first put up. 

He liked racing the others in the group and yelling insults back to whoever was the slowest, and occasionally winning, though not often. Generally, Will won, the innocent-looking kid having a nasty competitive streak a mile wide, and he was prone to cheat, cutting the others off so they had to brake hard. 

He liked pretending he was a normal kid.

Though the illusion was shattered with the daily calls. 

Tony skidded to a stop on the Byers' gravel driveway, ignoring the sting of the pebbles peppering his arms. He practically threw the bike down, bursting in the door. Joyce glanced up from folding laundry, looking a bit startled. Then realization dawned on her face.

"Need sound effects?" She asked. Sometimes, to pepper in the believability, she would make beach sound effects in the background, whether it was the waves crashing or seagulls. Tony thought they were awful, but appreciated the effort.

"I don't think so." He raced to the phone on the wall, dialing as quickly as he could. He tapped his foot nervously, listening to the ringing. After a tense moment, a familiar voice answered.

"Hello? Stark residency."

Tony smiled, relieved. "Hi, Jarvis. It's me. Tony."

"Oh!" The voice went from formal to happy. "I haven't heard from you in a while, sir. How's California?" 

"It's..." Tony struggled for words. How should he describe it?! He should have asked Max. "...California-y."

"Silver-tongued as ever." Jarvis replied flatly.

"Oh, leave me alone. I've been walking around all day, I'm exhausted." Tony grinned though.

"I've yet to meet these friends, you know." Jarvis said. Tony gulped. If he brought the others to his family, the jig would be up, especially if they brought Dustin or El. Dustin would have insulted Howard the moment he said something he didn't agree with. The others were bad, but not nearly so much as Dustin. And El?

El didn't have a filter on anything, especially when it came to secrets. 

"They live kind of far." Tony said lamely.

"But where did you meet them?" 

"School." Tony said, the same excuse he always said. Technically, they did meet him at school.

"Then they can't be all that far. We-oh, your mother is here. Do you want to speak with her?" 

"Yeah! Thanks, Jarvis." Good. No more hard to answer questions.

"Tony! How have you been?! Are you feeling alright?! Are you eating enough?! I heard there was an earthquake in San Francisco-" Maria's familiar, slightly accented voice was a relief. Tony felt a little bad about lying to her, but he told himself she would be fine with it if she knew.

"There's always earthquakes in San Francisco, Mom. It's on a faultline. And I'm not even there, I'm in Monterey." Tony said. That was where Max used to live. 

"Still-"

"I'm fine, Mom. I'm having fun, honest. Lots of cool stuff to do down here. You can tell Dad I'm studying to get him off my case." 

"Are you?"

"That's not important." 

Anyone else would have laughed, but his mother sighed, clucking her tongue. "Tony, you didn't have to go to the other side of the country-"

"This has nothing to do with him!" Except it did, it really did, especially since the night after El came back from 2018. "I just wanna be around friends. Simple as that."

Maria sighed. "If you're sure..._rimanga sicuro. Ti amo e mi manchi, bambino."_

Tony allowed himself a smile. "_Te volgio bene anche io, mamma."_

Tony started to hang up the phone when his mother said the thing that ruined his day. 

"Oh, your father's here! You should talk to him."

Tony's grip on the phone slackened, and he nearly dropped it. "No no, that's okay, I gotta-"

"Tony." A gruff voice on the phone said. 

Tony's teeth clenched. "Dad."

Joyce glanced up from her laundry, looking concerned. She had the very special talent of being able to read people-especially children-like a book. And she knew that this wasn't going to be good for Tony's mood, probably before Tony did.

"Still in California goofing off?" Howard asked.

"In case you haven't noticed, it's July. I'm not behind on anything because there's nothing to be behind on. I know you probably wish it went all year to keep me out of your hair, but no." Tony said, voice dripping with sarcasm. 

"I never said that I wanted you out." 

"You're irritated when I'm there, you're irritated when I'm not. What can I do to please you, O Stark the Great and Terrible?" 

"Stop with the attitude. It's not cute." Howard snapped.

Wasn't trying to be, Tony thinks, but he has a feeling he's very close to his limit. 

"So why are you talking to me?" Tony asked.

"Do I need a reason?"

"Usually you have one."

"Your mother put me on the spot. You seem alright, so I'm going to assume you're fine." Howard said.

He kept talking, but Tony was quiet now. That night was playing in his head over and over when El was back and she started screaming, and he was still terrified of Hopper because he reminded him so much of Howard except he had a gun, and how Hopper yelled at them to leave but when Tony peeked in he suddenly realized he hated his own father and would do anything to never see him again-

"You know you're the reason I can't get free ice cream, right?" Tony blurted out.

Silence. "...what?" Howard asked, rather confused.

"My friends are also friends with this guy who works at an ice cream shop. The girl he works with is kind of in charge. Robin. Robin lets him give us all free ice cream. Except me. She doesn't like me. Do you know why?" Tony asked.

"Enlighten me." Howard said sarcastically.

"Because she knows who you are and she doesn't like you." Tony snapped.

"And this matters because...?"

"Because it's not fair! I'm not you, I don't have anything to do with the stuff you do, and I don't want too!" Tony nearly yelled. 

"I hope you didn't make a fool of yourself." Howard said.

Tony blinked, words processing slowly, one by one.

"...I gotta go. Bye Dad." Tony said quickly, hanging up the phone before Howard could say anything else.

There was silence for a long time, Tony's fists clenched, staring at the phone with shaky breathe.

"...Tony, can you help me fold the laundry?" Joyce asked, in a voice that had decided to pretend nothing happened. She knew by now that any conversation with his father was to be discounted for at least five hours, and then she could try and pry open his emotional cave.

Tony took a deep breath, ready to pretend everything was fine. For his own sake.

"Yeah, sure." And he started helping her, pretending once again he was a normal kid.


	2. Hop the Pop

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me, going to practice: i have a cold but i'll be fine   
*proceeds to guzzle water only to immediately throw it up*  
so now i cant breathe through my nose so thats cool

The day El finally returned was a crazy one, to say the least.

There was a lot of shouting and hugging and crying, mostly from El and Mike, but Tony would be lying if he said he didn't join in a few times.

El looked awful. Her face was gaunt and pale, looking like a ghost. As for the nasty knot on her head and her condition, she refused to say a word, other than she had been in 2018 with Peter and everyone (her voice quivered on 'everyone') was okay. 

Tony decided not to press her with questions.

Mike insisted the group sleep over at the cabin, and Hopper was on the verge of yelling at Mike when El piped up she liked the idea, so he couldn't argue with that. 

At first, it was the best night of Tony's life.

They ate a copious amount of junk food, watched awful movies, and talked and played poker using M&Ms. For the first time in Tony's life, he felt included in something...happy? Domestic? Safe?

Normal. Normal was the word.

The group liked him, accepted him, not just because they knew his dad. But because they liked him, and thought he was funny, they thought he was smart, they thought he was fun to be around.

Even El seemed happy to see Tony.

Tony fell asleep with a grin and woke up terrified to a high pitched screaming.

Then the night turned painful. 

El was screaming, in the grip of a nightmare from something Tony could only imagine. She wasn't totally awake, and when Mike tried to touch her, she screamed louder, and Mike flew across the room. 

Windows shattered.

Hopper burst into the room, looking like he just woke up. "EVERYBODY OUT!" He yelled, pointing to the door. The shout seemed to startle El awake, as she screamed one more time before sitting straight up, and sent Hopper flying through the wall with a crash.

There was very little protest as the kids all ran out, completely unsure what to make of it.

The screams quieted quickly. 

Tony's hands shook. "W...what was that?" He asked breathlessly. 

"A night terror, I think." Mike said quietly. "My little sister Holly used to get them after I let her watch a scary movie with me. El's probably got them too, considering..." He trailed off. "Everything."

Tony winced. 

"I...I think we should go home." Max said. 

"What?! We need to make sure she's okay!" Mike protested.

"Hopper's got her. She'll be alright." Lucas said.

Tony stared at Lucas open-mouthed. If Hopper reminded Tony of anyone, it was his own dad. And 'alright' was the opposite of what happened when Tony pulled something that was even remotely close to what El did.

But Mike paused, and then nodded. "Does anyone have paper? We can write her a note so she doesn't think we just ditched her." 

"You're actually leaving?" Tony asked, unable to process the idiocracy.

"Yeah. I mean, if it were me I'd want to be alone. Hopper probably wants us gone anyway." Dustin said.

Mike scribbled a note, placing it on the steps leading up to the cabin under a rock so the note didn't blow away. They started to leave, and Tony watched them, shocked.

Max turned back. "What? Are you staying?"

"I...left something in there. I'll wait and get it and then leave." Tony lied. He had to check on El, make sure she wasn't in too much trouble. 

"Just get it tomorrow, Tony. Leave her alone-" Dustin started.

"Just go. If I can't get it in five minutes, I'll catch up, okay?" Tony said, begging they left. 

They seemed to more or less accept this vague excuse, slowly leaving Tony's line of sight. 

A frog croaked, and Tony rushed around to the side window of the cabin, using a stump to make sure he was tall enough to see in the room. _Is he yelling at her? Berating her? Probably making her pick up the mess at least, oh God, would he hit her-_

Tony froze.

Hopper was hugging a sobbing El tightly, telling her something Tony couldn't hear, but was clearly meant to calm her, not reprimand. Soon, El's crying calmed, and she hugged Hopper back tightly. He rubbed her back gently, still talking to her. El said something else, getting choked up again. Hopper gently cupped her face in his hands, saying something else, offering a small smile, and pressing a soft kiss to her forehead.

El smiled.

Tony ducked under the windowsill, for some reason shaking. This was literally the opposite of what he pictured. El had thrown Hopper through a wall, and he wasn't even a little bit mad.

_That doesn't mean anything! El's a girl and she has superpowers, it's different,_ the small part of his brain that still wanted to please Howard protested.

But Tony couldn't trick himself into thinking it was fine anymore. Somewhere, deep down, he always knew there was something off, but...now that he was alone, away from Howard's glare...it was like it all came crashing down at once.

_Does he love me? Is he proud of me? Does he even like me?_

And Tony found, to his mounting horror, he couldn't answer the questions the way he wanted too.


	3. The Test Run, the Call, and the Signal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoever told me senior year was gonna be the best was a bitch ass liar

"Okay. I'm ready." Tony wriggled, nodding at El. 

El made a face. "Bad idea." She said.

"Yeah, well, you know what they say: all good ideas come from bad ideas." Tony shrugged.

"Who says that?!" Mike asked incredulously.

"I did. Just now. Come on, El! Time's a-wasting!" Tony stood up straight.

El sighed, throwing her hand at him. An invisible force threw Tony into the air, higher than ever. 

Max squinted, holding her hand up to guard her eyes against the bright sun. "Do you think it'll work this time?" 

"No way. This is gonna be the one where he breaks his leg." Lucas said.

"Stop being negative! You never know." Dustin said, feeling a need to defend Tony after Tony was the last one to leave his all-nighter call for Suzie.

Tony himself was starting to descend, frantically working with the rocket-like machinery strapped to his feet. Frantically, he pressed the button, trying to make it work. The rockets sputtered weakly, and then he began to fall faster.

"Oh." Tony said.

The ground approached faster, and Tony frantically tried to get his parachute to pop out. But suddenly he realized that it was knotted from last time, and it wasn't going to help him.

The ground came quicker. 

Tony reached to the rockets, frantically trying to make them work, but the ground was right there, unforgiving and not at all soft-

The rockets roared to life, sending Tony backward.

He shrieked, frantically righting himself, only to shoot upwards into the clouds. He screamed again, frantically adjusting the rockets.

Now, he hovered above Hawkins.

Tony blinked. "I did it." He said out loud, barely realizing. Then he grinned. "I DID IT!"

He waved to the group below, grin growing even more when he realized they were smaller than ants. The only way he knew it was them was Max's red hair, glinting in the sun. 

Hawkins looked like a picture from a puzzle, the tiny town peeking out through the woods, the quarry like a black hole to his right. The forest loomed under him, perfect and green.

The first step of becoming Iron Man? Flying around. Check.

He adjusted his position, able to have some control over the rockets, cheering still when he zoomed towards the ground. "GUYS LOOK-"

The rockets gave out, sputtering weakly like they were coughing. 

"Shit."

*** *** ***  
"What happened to you? You look like you lost a fight." Peter said, squinting at Tony through the grainy screen. 

Tony was sporting a swollen eye, deep blue in the center and a sickly yellow color around the edge. 

"You don't look much better." Tony retorted. Peter himself had a tissue up to his nose, and a couple of stitches around his hairline. "Did you use your powers?"

Peter looked uncomfortable. "No...Spider-man duties. You know how it is."

"He ran into a glass door!" A familiar male voice yelled off-camera. Peter looked horrified.

"It was really clean! You didn't tell me you put in a sliding glass door! And why did it break, hm?! Isn't everything here like, bulletproof or something?!" Peter squeaked.

"I didn't foresee you running into the glass like a bird, sorry. I'll be sure to put tape over it next time." The voice sounded amused. 

Tony was grinning. 

"Well, what did you do?" Peter asked, shooing the other man out. Tony assumed it was himself, having been told by El that Peter was living with 2018 Tony.

"I finally got the rocket boots to work! I mean, they went out, but I didn't die. I think a black eye is pretty good for my only injury." Tony shrugged.

Peter looked shocked. "You're making a suit?!" He looked unsure. "What if you get hurt or something?"

"I didn't run into a glass door, I'm not the one you should be worried about." 

"It was REALLY clean glass!" 

Tony rolled his eyes. 

Tony would usually call Peter at least once or twice a day. He wanted to do it every day, but Peter explained (in a slightly exhausted voice) that a day was an hour or so for him. So once or twice a week for Tony equaled every other day or so for Peter.

"How's summer going? Bored of Hawkins yet?" Peter asked, trying to move on from the glass incident.

"I'm not gonna be able to go back in the fall. I like it here." Tony said.

Peter looked surprised. "Really? You don't strike me as a small-town-American-heartland kind of guy."

"It's way more relaxing here. Plus, it's not like there's not anything interesting here. No one here knows me, or if they do they don't care. Except for Robin, but she's a jerk and I don't care." 

"Who's Robin?" 

"She works with Steve at an ice cream place. She gives all the others free ice cream except me." Tony huffed.

Peter laughed. "What? Why?" 

"She doesn't like my dad." 

Peter's smile died. "Ah." He rubbed the back of his neck, making a face. He winced when it jostled his newly stitched up glass cut. "Well...maybe she just needs to see you aren't like him."

"It's fine. I don't care that much. She's just kind of annoying." Except he did care. A lot.

"Alright. I gotta go. Stuff to do and all that-"

"Glass walls to break?" Tony asked.

Peter glared. "I swear to God if you mention it one more time I'll crawl through this screen and burn off your eyebrows." 

Tony grinned. "Bye, Peter."

"Bring the others next time, they don't bully me!"

*** *** ***

"Suzie, do you copy?" Dustin asked, waiting for an answer. When he was greeted with radio static, he grumbled, adjusting the frequency. It was near midnight, and Dustin was once again failing to contact his girlfriend.

Had Suzie forgotten about him already? Did she find someone better? Was she only with him out of pity? Maybe she was a hallucination, brought on by bad camp food...

"Suzie, do you copy? This is Dustin-" The radio crackled, and Dustin whooped, adjusting the frequency. Then he paused.

He didn't understand a word of what the speaker was saying. It was a male voice, talking quickly in...Russian?

Dustin quickly set the radio to record the transmission, shaking with anticipation. They spoke for a little longer, maybe thirty seconds, and then the radio signal died into static. 

Dustin turned off the radio, staring at it in shock.

"Holy shit."


	4. Crazy 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yall target is wild. i was looking for a peppa pig like you do and there was a ripped open package on the ground someone wanted that peppa badly and i hope they're doing okay

Peter grinned at his phone. He was finally going to win.

MJ had created a group chat for the Decathalon, but of course, the seriousness didn't last long. 

Flash had started a GamePigeon marathon, and now Peter was finally, FINALLY about to win Crazy 8.

Peter tapped his foot excitedly for Ned to finish his turn, and his heart stopped.

Ned had put down a 'Draw 4' card, sending Peter to five cards instead of one.

_peter parker: ned wtf_

_ned l. : it was my only card I could put down!!!!!_

_Betty R.: not true he's sitting right next to me_

_peter parker: ned u r dead to me _

Peter jumped, hearing something beep loudly. A large, holographic screen popped up near the doorway to the entrance of the workshop, and a familiar, angry-looking face popped up on the screen.

The man squinted at Peter, looking irritated. "Who the hell are you?" 

Peter blinked. "You...you're General Ross."

Ross scowled. "Where's Stark?"

Peter shrugged. "I dunno. Why are you calling?" He couldn't explain why, but his spider-sense prickled, nervous and on guard.

_Danger...?_

"That's none of your business. Now, who the hell are you, and where's Stark?" He asked, looking more irritated by the second. 

"Hey, Peter, where-" Tony walked into the room, and looked instantly irritated. "Great. Ross."

"Hello Stark. You've been ignoring my calls." Ross said. Tony stepped in front of the hologram call, looking more than tired.

"Yeah, I wonder why. What do you want?" Tony asked. 

"Who's that?" Ross asked, glancing at Peter.

"My intern. Not that that's any of your business. What do you want?" Tony asked, taking a seat.

"He has to leave." Ross said. 

"Sorry, is this your house? This could be good for a school news article. Don't you want publicity? Is this talk concerning the national security of the country?"

"No-"

"Then he can stay." Tony said casually.

Ross shot Peter a glare, and Peter pretended to be immersed in his phone.

_Danger...danger..._

"Neither you nor Ms. Potts have been to any of the conferences regarding the Sokovia Accords in the past three weeks." Ross said.

Peter ducked his head down further towards the screen of his phone. The last three weeks had been the aftermath of...the incident.

"Been busy. Also, I didn't want to see you. So what did I miss?" Tony asked casually.

"For one, Steve Rogers and his fugitive team were with you, and you neglected to call me." Ross growled.

"If you remember, I was being held hostage." Tony said, but he had a slight smile.

"I'm sure you were. But since then, there's been several reports of an enhanced individual in New York, along with this rather suspicious malfunction at your tower and the compound." Ross said.

Somehow, the Mindflayer had more or less escaped the public eye. Tony had blamed the damage to the tower and the compound on a gas leak and subsequent fire, which wasn't entirely untrue. 

"Yeah well, doesn't matter much. What happened happened." Tony shrugged.

"Then what about the enhanced girl? She could be dangerous-"

Peter fought a snicker, only to fail doing so. "Don't worry, General Ross, I'm sure you'll have time to find her."

Ross looked at him blankly, and Tony looked simply disappointed.

"And anyway, we don't know for sure if this so-called girl is even enhanced. This isn't a witch hunt." Tony said.

"According to the Accords, the governments and the Avengers have a responsibility and a right to track down and hold enhanced and mutants who aren't registered." Ross said.

Tony blinked and glared. "Section C? We took that out."

"You haven't been to the past several meetings. They've been revised." Ross said smugly.

_Danger danger!_

"That's completely out of line. You can't just go grabbing people because you think they have superpowers." Tony snapped.

"Then come to the damn meetings and argue your case if you're so hellbent on protecting threats against national security." Ross said, and the hologram buzzed out.

Tony muttered furiously, and Peter gulped.

"So, uh...I don't suppose I'm going to get arrested?" He asked in a small voice.

Tony shook his head. "You have immunity, you're technically part of the Avengers."

Peter blinked. "But I turned it down."

"I know. It's only a title so Ross isn't breathing down your neck." Tony shrugged.

"Are there any conditions?" Peter asked.

"Basically, you only operate within New York City unless explicitly needed somewhere else, or there are circumstances outside your control. Just keep doing what you're doing." Tony said, texting someone. Probably Pepper.

Peter nodded. "Cool."

_But what if they change it?_

Tony sighed. "Looks like I'll be out for the weekend...shit. Here I was, having a good day..." 

Peter forced a wane smile. "I'll be okay. I'll bring Ned over, it'll be fun."

"There's a Capri-Sun in the fridge."

Peter huffed. "I had it in my bag one time! I don't even know where it came from!"

*** *** ***

"So...why are you showing me this?" Tony asked. Steve and Dustin had dragged him to Scoops Ahoy, insisting they had something important to show him.

So he listened to Dustin's tape full of (what he assumed was) Russian gibberish.

"Do you understand any of it?" Dustin asked.

"Why would I?"

"I dunno, you're like the smartest person I know? And I'm sure you've been around Russian people." Dustin said.

"Why would I-look, I appreciate your faith in me, but I don't speak Russian." Tony said.

"I told you, Dustin!" Steve sighed. "We gotta get a translator book-"

"I am fairly certain, however," Tony said. "That they use another alphabet."

"Dammit!" Steve said, jumping up, rubbing the marker off a dry erase board. The board had previously been divided into two columns, one of which reading YOU RULE and the other side saying YOU SUCK. The YOU SUCK side had several tally marks under it.

"What letters are there?" Steve asked. Tony shrugged helplessly.

"I just know that, I don't actually know anything in Russian! I told you!" 

"Hey, why'd you ruin that?! That board had important data!" Robin looked over the counter into the backroom, glaring at Steve.

"It's top-secret stuff, Robin. You-" Steve started, but Robin cut him off.

"You mean that so-called Russian transmission you picked up?" She smiled at their shocked faces. "Pro tip-if you want to keep something a secret, keep your voices down. Let me hear it."

"Do you speak Russian?" Tony asked.

"No, but I'm fluent in five languages. English, Spanish, Italian, French, and music." She looked pleased.

"Music isn't a language." Steve said.

"Then you read it, dingus. I'm good at languages. Plus..." She nodded to a young girl with beaded hair outside, waiting at the counter with a scowl. Erica, Lucas' sister. "I've had to deal with her. It's your turn."

Steve huffed, looking irritated. "Fine." He jumped over the counter, ignoring Robin when she threw his hat at him.

"Now," Robin said, turning to Dustin and Tony. She folded her hands like she was an eager student. "Let's hear that tape."

*** *** ***

"Carter, you're joking, right? It's a hole in the wall. Nothing's gonna be there. Besides, I'm told you retired." The stupid, stupid supervisor glared at Peggy, his seemingly bulldog-like face in a permanent frown.

"Surely you've been listening to the news. That girl there died due to chemical exposure. That town made a name for itself, and it's about to do so again." Peggy paced, ignoring the oncoming ache in her back. 

"A tragic accident, yes," The supervisor said, in a voice that carried little sympathy. "But a fluke. Nothing is there. And I won't waste our resources sending someone out there to interview Indiana hicks on how they feel about the situation. That's for the news to do." He held up his hand before Peggy could open her mouth. "And that's my final decision. Do you understand, Carter?"

Peggy grit her teeth, and managed to give him a winning smile, one that always seemed to fool her male coworkers. "Yes, sir." She said sweetly, already planning how long the trip would take.

Better to ask forgiveness than to ask permission. Though she had already asked permission...


	5. The Translation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> no chapter tomorrow; college tour
> 
> ew

"No no, they definitely didn't say that. It was _'tsel,_ which is..." Robin flipped through her book, scribbling Cyrillic onto the notebook, which was filled with countless translations and re-translations of the Russian code. 

"No, it-" Tony tried to argue but paused when he saw the word 'message' under the Russian word. They had finished a sentence. 

"This is an urgent message." Robin read, and glanced at Tony. "What did you think the last word was again?" 

Tony turned pink. "Doesn't matter-"

"I believe it was 'ostrich', right?" She grinned.

"Shut up." Tony grumbled.

"They don't have ostriches in Russia, you turkey." Robin said.

"I know that! They probably have zoos or something though!" Tony protested.

Robin ignored him, poking her head out to wave to Steve and Dustin. "Hey, dinguses. We got it." 

Steve's eyes widened. "You got it all?!" 

Robin blinked. "Uh, no? Only the first sentence. It's been twenty minutes. Which I still think is impressive." 

Dustin rushed up to Robin. "What have you got so far?" 

"This is an urgent message," Robin answered, looking pleased. "Keep scooping Stevie, and don't think I'm not still keeping track of your losses."

She sat back down at the table, starting to write. 

Tony was quiet for a minute. "...why don't you like me?" He asked after a moment.

Robin looked up, confused. "Hm?"

"Why don't you like me? You give everyone else free ice cream except for me." Tony said, feeling ridiculously childish. 

Robin seemed to share his opinion, as she quirked her eyebrows, looking amused. "We can't just give out ice cream to everyone."

"Yeah, but you do! You might not be friends with the others, but you tolerate them and give them ice cream." Tony said, feeling very stupid for getting upset about this.

"I never said I don't like you." Robin said.

Tony rolled his eyes. "Oh please."

Robin sighed, looking irritated. "So what if I don't? We have bigger things to worry about." 

"I never did anything to you!" Tony protested, snatching the tape away.

"Hey! Stop acting like a brat!" Robin reached for it, but Tony leaned back to keep it away. 

"I wanna know why you don't like me!" Tony snapped, suddenly realizing too little, too late he was leaning back too far in the chair. He yelped, feeling the gravity yank him down, and yelped again when his head smacked the tile floor, pain exploding in his skull.

"Ow." He managed to grit out. 

Robin wasn't laughing. Which was unusual. 

She snatched the tape out of his hand. "For God's sake, Stark. Focus!" She snapped, sounding angry.

Defeated, and with a sizable knot on his head, Tony sat up, listening to the tape for the millionth time.

*** *** ***

Hopper checked his watch.

Still ten more minutes until he could go home and break up the almost certainly happening makeout session between El and Mike. 

It wasn't that he didn't trust Mike. For as much as a little shit he was, Mike cared about El and wouldn't do anything to hurt her. He was also sure they weren't going to...go all the way, in a manner of speaking. El certainly wasn't going to oblige to that, and Mike wouldn't force her.

It was just that he didn't want to have to see that pain in the ass making out with his daughter every day. It was gross, for one, and Hopper reminded himself to look up public PDA rules. Did they really have to always be around each other at every waking moment? Did they really have to use those damn walkie talkies to spout mushy promises? 

Maybe he could get a restraining order on Mike. Was that legal?

"I'm the chief of police," Hopper said out loud to himself. "I can do whatever the hell I want."

A cicada began to buzz, seeming to agree. He checked his watch again and sighed.

Nine minutes until he could go home. The last hour was always the slowest.

Hopper sighed, reaching into the glove compartment. Did he have any cigarettes? 

The cicada grew louder, and louder, seeming to come closer. Lights appeared down the road, coming towards where Hopper was parked.

Cicadas didn't do that.

Faster than Hopper could blink, a motorcycle zoomed past with a fearsome roar, the light fading quickly. 

Well, this would take up the last nine and a half minutes. 

Hopper turned on the siren, chasing the motorcyclist. He honked, getting irritated instantly when the cyclist only increased his speed.

"What the hell?!" Hopper grumbled, honking again. He was gaining on the cyclist, and he saw that the motorcycle didn't have a license plate either. The cyclist didn't even have a helmet. Hopper wasn't the kind that called people out for neglecting personal safety (unless it was El) but at these speeds, the guy was just plain stupid for not wearing one. 

Hopper honked again, this time using the speaker in the car. "Hey buddy," He said. "I'm off-duty in a few minutes. Pull over and I'll only write you a warning, capiche?" 

In response, the cyclist sped up more and killed his headlights. Right before Hopper lost sight of him, there was a glint of silver from the left arm of the cyclist. Some sort of bracelet or glove. 

"Son of a bitch." Hopper muttered, slowly the car from breakneck speeds to reasonable speeding. Well, it was just about time for him to leave. There was never anyone on the roads during this time of night, and if the guy crashed and broke his neck? Well, Hopper had tried to warn him.

Hopper turned the car, heading back to the station to clock out, already thinking of what to yell at Mike when he got home.

*** *** ***  
"We finished." Robin said. 

Steve looked up, somewhat confused by Robin's somber look. "Uh...that's a good thing? Thanks for your help with closing by the way." He locked the cash register, glancing back out at the darkened mall. 

It was creepy at night.

"Yeah, but I don't think you're gonna like what it says." Tony said.

"Well?" Dustin prompted.

_"Это - срочное сообщение. Цель была приобретена. Все открытые глаза. Зимний Солдат приезжает."_ Robin said easily, sounding like she had spoken Russian all her life.

"Which means...?" Steve prompted.

"This is an urgent message," Tony said in a small voice. "The target has been acquired. All eyes open. The Winter Soldier is coming."

There was silence, the dark message sinking in like a poison.

"...what the hell is a Winter Soldier?" Dustin asked.


	6. Leaked

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> today was a good day, i cant believe i never knew how hot i looked in hawaiian shirts and hair clips until now

"Tony." Tony groaned loudly, rolling over, waving his hand vaguely at whoever was shaking him, trying to wake him up. 

"Five more minutes, Dad." He mumbled sleepily.

"It's Joyce. You have to get up. Something happened." 

At that, Tony's eyes snapped open, rolling off the pullout couch. "Is anyone hurt? Who died?!" He asked breathlessly. It was still dark out, but there was the tiniest flash of light peeking over the horizon. 

"No no, everyone's okay. No one got hurt. It's just that...well..." She wriggled, glancing at the blinds. Tony heard shuffling, loud talking outside, and for a half a second he wondered if it had something to do with Hawkins lab, maybe the government coming to arrest him. 

Then there was an all too familiar white flash, and Tony's heart sank. He would take a million Demodogs over this. 

"The press." He said, voice dull and lifeless. "Someone told them I was here."

*** *** ***  
Tony heard Joyce calling Hopper to come pick him up, and Tony pretended not to care that he was packing his stuff up.

"Look on the bright side," Jonathan said, handing Tony a pair of jeans he had missed. "Nancy and I work for the newspaper. Maybe we can convince them that it was a mistake and you're just a look alike."

Tony nodded, pretending to believe that this would work. "Did they wake Will up?" Tony asked, feeling guilty.

Jonathan grinned. "No. Will sleeps like the dead. So does Mom, but her mom-powers woke her up."

Tony forced a chuckle. "Can you tell Will I said hi?" 

"No problem. And don't worry, I'm sure you'll be back here in no time. Hopper's just picking you up so Mom can pull out of the driveway." Jonathan stood up, brushing the lint off his pants from the old carpet. "All set?"

Tony nodded, for some reason feeling an ache in his chest.

Suddenly, the outside world roared to life, white flashes of cameras appearing through the blinds like tiny bombs, indistinct chatter sounding like a million buzzing mosquitoes. 

The door opened, and a surprised-looking El was shoved inside, followed by Hopper, who was already in a bad mood. 

"They're like vultures. Ugh, this only cements my feelings on media..." Hopper grumbled, a cigarette between his teeth. He glanced down at El. "You okay?"

She nodded, rubbing her eyes. "Just really bright."

"You get used to it." Tony said glumly. 

"Alright, you little shit. Let's go." Hopper grumbled, but there was no bite in his voice.

Joyce grabbed Tony gently, fixing his hair and shirt, looking anxious. "You call me if you need anything, okay? If you forgot something, if Hop forgets to make you a meal, or if you just want to talk. Okay, sweetie?" 

Tony had the irrational urge to cry. He smiled. "Thanks, Ms. Byers. I can take care of myself-oof!" Joyce pulled him into a tight hug. 

"Call me when you get there." She told Hopper, who nodded.

Tony grabbed his bag, pretending not to feel the tension in the air. 

He opened the door.

Immediately, white flashes blinded him, and he yelped, no longer prepared for the onslaught after so much peace and quiet. Everyone started shouting at once, so much to the point where it didn't even sound like English.

"HEY! GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!" He heard Hopper's voice rise above the cacophony, and was pushed forward roughly. Tony stumbled, but let himself be guided away, Hopper guiding him through the sea of paparazzi. 

Tony felt himself shaking and stared at the ground. They couldn't see him cry. They would have a field day. 

"Here." He heard Hopper say, and a big hat blocked his eyes. Hopper's beloved hat. "Keep it on. Block out the damn flashbangs-HEY! IF ANY OF YOU TALK TO MY DAUGHTER I'LL FLAY YOU ALIVE!"

After a million, billion years, Tony managed to stumble into the police cruiser. El climbed in after him, and one gutsy reporter stuck their head in. 

"Tony Stark, does Howard Stark know about this? What's the goal? What's his reaction going to be?" He asked, nearly hitting Tony in the face with their tape recorder.

"Uh." Tony said brilliantly. 

He hadn't thought about his dad...

Hopper shoved the reporter away-more roughly than he had too, probably, but Tony wasn't complaining-and climbed in the car. Tony pulled the hat down as far as he could, pretending he wasn't on the verge of a panic attack. He was already shaking uncontrollably, eyes stinging dangerously with tears.

_Dad. What's he going to do when he finds out? He probably already knows._

Tony jerked as the cruiser began to speed away, and looked back at the news vans. Strangely, none of them were following. 

El sniffled, and Tony glanced at her. A stream of blood ran down her nose. "Thanks." He mumbled.

Hopper glanced at Tony in the mirror. "You okay kid?"

Tony opened his mouth to say yes.

His last safe place was gone. For the first time in as long as he could remember, he was truly happy, included and wanted not because he was Tony Stark, but in spite of it. 

And now he was a bug under a microscope again, one who was inevitably going to be crushed by Howard's $10,000 shoes.

Tony started to sob, and once he started, he couldn't stop.

He sobbed all the way back to Hopper's cabin, El hugging him gently, and Hopper playing music from the radio.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i cannot be the only one who sees that jim gaffigan and david harbour look identical


	7. Playlist

"Dude, that's so lame." Ned said, sounding disappointed.

Peter looked up at him, half his body hanging off the couch. "What? It's not, it's clever-"

"It's lame, but kind of in a funny way." Ned scrolled through Peter's Spotify playlist, discreetly named Playlist #012. 

All the songs were fire-themed. 

"It's cool." Peter says weakly. 

As if by magic, the little TV in the corner blinks to life, static flickering eagerly. "Oh thank God." Peter said, rolling off the couch, stumbling over and flicking it on.

There was El, but no Tony in sight. "Where's Tony?" Peter asked before he could stop himself.

El looked offended.

"No no no, I'm happy to see you too, it's...you know. Usually Tony is in front of the machine first." Peter said.

El grinned, seeing Ned. She waved happily. "Hi Ned."

Ned waved back. "Is everything okay?" Ned asked.

El pursed her lips. "Well...a lot of people came here because they found out Tony was here." 

Peter froze. "What? Who leaked it?" 

El shrugged. "I don't know. He's upset." 

"On a scale of one to Vine being shut down, how upset is he?" Ned asked. El looked confused, and Ned paused. "Ah...on a scale of one to ten, I mean."

"...thirteen." El said after a moment of deliberation.

Peter's heart clenched. "Where is he?"

El shuffled, turning the camera to the couch. Peter realized it was Hopper's cabin. Tony was curled up on the couch, seeming asleep, pale and with tear stains on his face. 

"I'm...guessing we should leave him alone." Peter said sadly after a moment of deliberation. 

El nodded. "Just wanted to say hi." El said quietly.

Peter nodded, opening his mouth to ask about the others when the hologram suddenly turned on, making him and Ned jumped. Tony Stark blinked, looking surprised to see Ned.

"...did I say you could have someone over?" He asked.

"You didn't say I couldn't." Peter said. 

"Yeah yeah, smartass. Just don't blow anything up. Hey El." Tony nodded at the girl. Then he paused, suddenly looking startled. "Oh shit, El, hang up right now."

"Why?" El asked, looking irritated at the sudden order.

"Just do it-God, Ross, wait, I'm having a conversation-" Tony turned to the side, and the hologram jostled.

Peter froze, lunging forward to turn off the TV. El saw him and looked offended. "Hey-" But Peter had already turned off the TV before Ross came into view. 

"Stark, stop fooling around." Ross snapped, casting a sharp glare at Peter and Ned as if it were their fault. 

"Jesus, okay, one second, take the stick out of your ass..." Tony looked suddenly exhausted when he turned back to Peter. "Don't do anything stupid. I'll talk to you later." 

Peter nodded. "Bye." The hologram flickered off. 

Ned sighed, looking shaky. "What...would he do if he found out about..." He gestured vaguely. "Everything?"

Peter thought for a brief moment of the Hawkins lab, and how easily he could picture Ross there.

"Nothing good." He decided.

*** *** ***  
Tony woke up around noon, a bad taste in his mouth. 

"You're not dead." El said, sitting at the table.

"Nope. Sorry to disappoint." Tony said, ignoring El's glare. "Where's Hopper?"

"Work." El said simply. 

Tony forced himself up, ignoring vertigo and headache. He always felt awful if he slept in too much. Or slept too little. Generally, it was better not to sleep at all.

Unless it was at Joyce's house. There, and only there could he have a good night's sleep.

"Eggos?" El said, glancing behind her as the toaster popped out two. 

Tony set his jaw. El never offered to share food, much less her precious Eggo waffles. 

"I don't need your pity." He grumbled.

"I didn't-"

"Yes, you do. I can tell. So stop it." Tony said. 

El rolled her eyes, and with a small jerk of her head, the waffles Tony had rejected zoomed to her. 

Tony sat across from her. "Do you know what the others are doing?"

El shook her head. 

"What, you're not like, always peeking on us?" He asked, picking at the wood on the table. 

El glared. "Don't look much."

"Could have fooled me." Tony snapped. He knew in the back of his mind that it wasn't fair to take out his frustration on El, but he pushed it down.

"Don't be an asshole." El said, going back to her waffles.

Tony sighed, forcing himself not to snap back. "Fine, fine...I'm sorry."

El looked surprised by his apology, but fell back into silence.

The walkie talkie buzzed with static. "Hey, anyone there? Tony? El? You guys okay? Will told us what happened." Mike's scratchy voice rang out from the walkie. 

Tony glanced at El, and then rushed over to pick it up, stretching out the antennae. "Yeah, I'm here at the cabin." He answered.

"You okay?"

Tony paused, trying to think of a suitable answer. "Everything sucks ass right now, but other than that I'm just peachy." 

"Cool. Look, we're gonna need you and El to help us out with something." Dustin's voice appeared on the channel. "Can we come over?"

"Who's we?" Tony asked. 

"You know, the party, and Steve and Robin-" 

"Robin?" Tony asked. "Is she there?" 

"Steve's going to pick her up. It's about the transmission." Dustin said.

"Does she know about...?" Tony trailed off, glancing at El, who was pretending (very badly) not to eavesdrop.

"Nope. She just knows about the message. We need her, Tony." Dustin said. 

Tony sighed. "Fine...maybe we can figure out what the Winter Soldier is." 

There was a clatter, and Tony jumped, seeing El staring at him with a shocked face.

"El? You okay?" Tony asked cautiously. She looked very odd, like she would either start crying or snap his neck.

She seemed to snap back to reality, staring at Tony.

"Bucky." She whispered.

Tony wrinkled his nose. "Who the hell is Bucky?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so......i did make that playlist....  
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5AMsoliAPDDO4gZWkfkMGa


	8. Blank Face

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> everyone: oh no let tony be happy  
Me: h...appy? I...i do not know this word...it must mean...not angst...but i only write angst...so we should...make things worse for smol tony. yes. good idea

“We can’t call Peter. You just called him, the machine needs a day to recharge before we can call him again. And thanks for nothing about telling me who Bucky is.” Tony snapped, irritated by El’s pacing.

“It’s an emergency. Can’t you fix it?” She proposed.

“It’s not broken! It’s a very delicate machine that allows us to see through timelines!” Tony rolled his eyes.

El huffed.

“Jesus, sorry if my miracle of engineering isn’t good enough. By the way, thanks for talking to Peter without me.” He grumbled.

“He’s my friend too.” El said.

“Yeah, but you’re not the one who got kicked out of Ms. Byers's house because the press wants your blood.” Tony replied.

El glared, and Tony yelped, feeling a sharp tug on his hair. “Stop doing that!”

“Stop being an asshole!” El shouted back.

“Oh, I’M the asshole?! I’m not the one ignoring everyone else in the group so I can go make out with my boyfriend!” Tony snarled. 

El turned red. “None of your business! Don’t even live here!”

“What the hell does that have to do with it?!” 

“Only a temporary part of the party.” El growled out.

Tony felt his stomach flip and turned away so El couldn’t see his face fall. “Yeah, well, at least I can go places without government surveillance, _Eleven.”_

Tony screeched, suddenly thrown into the wall roughly, feeling pain race up his back. He was probably covered in wood splinters. He glared at El, ignoring the logic that said to let it go and stop fighting. “You wanna fight?!” He snapped, grabbing his backpack and pulling out his gauntlet. 

Before El could snatch it away, he had fired an energy pulse, and El barely managed to dive out of the way. “What?! No balls now?!” Tony barked.

El reached her hand out towards him, blood leaking from her nose. Tony yelped, blasting the sofa with his gauntlet when it flew at him. 

Tony turned, hearing a window break. There was a rock on the ground, except it wasn’t a rock.

“GRENADE!” Tony screamed, diving for cover. There was an explosion, and he was sent flying forward, vision blacking out. When he came too, there was a ringing in his ears, and his vision was blurry.

The cabin was on fire. The door handle twitched, and Tony saw the shadow of someone outside. 

He ducked down behind a chair, trying to suppress his shaking. 

The door opened, and Tony heard footsteps, slow and quiet. Predatory, even. There was a very quiet mechanical whirring, so quiet that Tony probably wouldn’t have heard it if he hadn’t trained his ears to recognize it.

Tony squirmed, moving so he was partially hiding under the chair, and the intruder would have to walk around him to see his legs sticking out. Tony squinted, ignoring the sting of his burns, trying to get a view of the attacker. Was El okay?

Tony recoiled, barely managing not to gasp when a pair of black boots came into view, stepping slowly over the wreckage, ignoring the slowly growing flames licking at their side. Tony squinted, trying to get a better view, but immediately stopped with the barrel of an assault rifle came into view.

Whoever was here wanted to kill.

Tony fought to stop himself from panicking. The attacker would surely hear that. So in a brilliant moment, Tony held his breath.

And almost immediately regretted it.

The attacker stepped softly around the area, kneeling by the couch to investigate it, and Tony saw one of his arms was encased in silvery metal, a red star just below his shoulder. Tony squeezed his eyes shut, pretending his lungs weren’t fighting for air. 

The attacker suddenly stood up, turning towards Tony. Slowly, as if time had slowed, the attacker made his way towards the chair. Tony heard the gun click-

“AH!” The attacker suddenly flew back, and Tony let out his breath, gasping in the smokey air. He scrambled out from under the chair, seeing El standing with her arms stretched out, a bit banged up, but alive.

Tony heard shuffling from the attacker and blasted an energy pulse at him before he could stand again. The attacker flew back, making the wood in the wall behind him splinter. 

Tony blinked, staring at the attacker in surprise. He was tall, muscular, with a weird black jacket that looked a bit like a modified straitjacket. He had dark brown hair that fell about an inch above his shoulders and had a sort of surgical mask-like thing on to conceal his mouth that looked more like a muzzle the longer Tony looked at it.

But most terrifyingly, his eyes were entirely blank.

He aimed the gun at El, and Tony raised his gauntlet, only to realize it was smoking, having been used too many times in a row-

The attacker froze, body seizing, turning his attention to El, who had both hands stretched out towards him, her expression one of pain. Blood streaked down her nose.

The attacker jerked, taking a step towards her, and El cried out in surprise. The attacker’s eyes narrowed, an expression of terrifyingly blank fury came across his face, but it never quite reached his eyes.

El screamed with exertion, and the attacker’s metal arm twisted, the metal squealing against itself as it was bent backward, wire popping out and sparking. The attacker blinked, showing no pain. 

El shriek, pushing forward desperately, and the attacker’s arm sparked once, bent into a crumpled pretzel. The attacker flew back again, this time bursting through the walls and out of the cabin.

“GO GO GO!” Tony shrieked, grabbing his backpack and El’s arm, dragging her out the back entrance of the cabin. There was the sound of an engine revving-a motorcycle, by the sounds of it-and a bright light lit up the summer evening. 

Tony sprinted, half dragging the dazed El throughout the forest, trying to find a place to hide. He jumped into a ditch, pulling her next to him, clutching his backpack as a scared child does with a teddy bear. 

He was shaking.

El looked at him, similarly shocked, using her sleeve to scrub some of the blood away. ‘Are you okay?’ She mouthed.

‘Yes’ Tony lied.

Suddenly, Tony realized he could no longer hear the motorcycle engine. But footsteps were coming his way. El and Tony looked at each other, terrified. Tony reached into his backpack, pulling out one of his rockets. If he hit the attacker, it should stun him, giving him and El enough time to book it. 

‘On three’ He mouthed to El. El nodded.

‘One…’ Tony mouthed, putting the two wires together. The rocket whined, and the footsteps came closer.

‘Two…’ El said, tensing to run.

‘Three!’ Tony leaped up, releasing the rocket. 

The rocket sputtered and puffed weakly. 

Tony blinked. “Shit.” He threw the rocket at the attacker, and turned to run, shrieking when they grabbed his arm. “NO NO NO LET ME GO-”

“What the hell is going on?!” A female, British voice asked. Tony paused, looking back at the offender.

An older woman stood before him, maybe a little older than Ms. Byers or Hopper. She looked concerned, looking back and forth between El and Tony.

“Who...who are you?!” Tony gasped, adrenaline still coursing through him.

She raised an eyebrow at him. “Agent Carter. And your father has been calling me non-stop to pick you up.”


	9. 004

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i just found out theres like no good urban fantasy novels with celtic mythology  
*writing the outline* well if you want something done right you gotta do it yourself ammirite

**December 24th, 1978**

Eleven had no idea of the occasion that required her to meet someone, but she still hadn’t decided if it was good or not.

Papa had never introduced her to anyone officially before. Sure, he had shown her off to various people in a suit or white coats, but he had never actually introduced her as he introduced himself. Eleven was fairly certain it had to do with that thing that everyone seemed to hate called ‘politics’, but she couldn’t be sure.

In any case, she was escorted by Papa and two guards down the hall, her bare feet stinging slightly against the cold tile, and her newly shaved head making her even colder.

“Now, Eleven,” Papa said, and she turned her attention to him. “We’re going to meet someone very special today.” He smiled, kneeling down to her height. “Are you excited?”

Eleven blinked, unsure of how to answer that question.

“A little nervous?” Papa amended, and this time Eleven nodded profusely. 

She heard the guard whisper something and snicker, and Papa glared at them. Eleven tried not to fidget, realizing they were in front of the door were Eleven usually did experiments and tests. Maybe she was going to be examined again.

“There’s no reason to be nervous, Eleven,” Papa said, putting on a big smile. “You see, this guest is very important. He’s called the Winter Soldier in the field, but here we call him Four.”

El blinked, glancing down at her own 011. “That’s right. He’s like you. Well, not exactly like you, but part of the same project. You’ll be working with him when you’re older.” Papa smiled, standing up again. “He’s your older brother, in a way.”

“Bro-ther?” Eleven asked softly, speaking for the first time.

“Yes. A brother is a male who is from your family. A sister is a female who is from your family.” Papa said.

Family, she knew that word. It was very vague, and the definition seemed to jump around in a way where Eleven found it impossible to use the word in what Papa deemed was the correct context. So far, only Papa was in her family. That had been enough for her. Though, she supposed she could make room if she liked Four, especially if he was like Papa.

“Sister?” She asked, suddenly curious if her family was quite large and had all the numbers she knew of. Maybe a Five, she always liked the number five. 

Papa gave her a warning look. “No more questions.”

Eleven swallowed hard and nodded. 

Papa opened the door and nudged Eleven inside. The first thing Eleven took note of was the very, very large guns that the two guards in the corner of the room were clutching with white knuckles. She was used to the small guns that the guards here fingered lazily unless she made a sudden move, which then caused them to grip them tightly.

But these guns were very, very big. Bigger than her. 

There was a table in the middle of the room, as usual, but today the seat usually meant for her was occupied by a tall man, staring at her blankly. His hair fell a little above his shoulders, unruly, and Eleven felt a rather stupid spark of jealously that he got to have hair. 

He was very big and muscular, much bigger than Papa, and he wore a strange black coat that reminded Eleven terrifyingly of the dreaded straitjacket, her punishment for when she really made Papa upset. 

But his arm was very, very shiny, a red star right beneath his shoulder. His other arm was covered in the jacket sleeve, and Eleven couldn’t tell if he did indeed have a 004.

She had no idea what to make of him.

“Eleven, this is the Winter Soldier. You will refer to him as such.” Papa said. Eleven didn’t respond, deciding that no, she didn’t want to refer to him as anything, thank you very much, she was ready to go back to her room now, away from his scary arm and the scary guns and his staring, staring empty eyes-

She backed into Papa, trying to hide behind him, giving an involuntary whimper when he pushed her away. “Don’t whine.” Papa snapped. He glanced at the short, balding man in the corner with glasses. “Dr. Zola, perhaps a bit of proof is needed to make Eleven more cooperative?”

The man turned to the Winter Soldier, saying something that Eleven didn’t understand. The Winter Soldier snapped his head to Zola, making Eleven flinch. He yanked off his glove with the metal arm, whirring like the recording machine Eleven sometimes saw, and rolled up his sleeve. There was a 004 on his forearm. 

This didn’t make Eleven feel any better.

Papa sighed, giving Zola a sideways look. “English here, this isn’t your bunker.” 

“He responds to his German and Russian commands.” Zola said back in a funny-sounding voice. Eleven decided she didn’t like him very much.

“Then teach him English.” Papa said.

“Do you know how much reprogramming that takes?!” Zola snapped.

Eleven quirked her eyebrows, confused. Reprogramming, she knew that word. It was for when a computer stopped working or stopped doing something right. Someone in glasses-they always seemed to wear glasses-would type into the computer and green letters and numbers would rush down the screen too quickly for Eleven to even try and read them. If they couldn’t fix the problem, the men in grey jumpsuits would wheel the computer away and get a new one within the hour. When Eleven asked where the old computers went, Papa said they were smashed and thrown away because they were useless.

But reprogramming was for computers, not people. Maybe the Winter Soldier wasn’t a real person. It didn’t seem like too much of a stretch, considering the shiny arm and blank stare.

Would the Winter Soldier be smashed and thrown away if the reprogramming didn’t work? Eleven filed the question away as something to ask Papa when he was in a good mood. 

“We’ll discuss this later.” Papa snapped, and Eleven winced at the voice, even if Papa’s irritation wasn’t directed at her. 

Papa smiled warmly at Eleven, and Eleven swallowed hard, jarred by the sudden mood swing. “The Winter Soldier brought you something Eleven.” He nodded at Zola, who looked quite irritated by this whole affair. Zola said something to the Soldier, and the Soldier quickly put his glove back on and concealed his tattoo, leaning under the table and grabbing a small, white paper bag, holding it out.

“Go on, Eleven. Take it.” Papa said. Eleven stood still, not wanting to go anywhere near the metal arm, which was holding out the gift. The Winter Soldier’s expression did not change, staring endlessly with his ever-empty eyes. 

“Eleven.” Papa said in a warning voice. 

Eleven felt a shiver, and took a shaky breath, forcing herself to take a step forward. And then another, and then another, one after the other until she was inches from the Winter Soldier. Not bothering to conceal her shaking, she reached out slowly, taking the bag. 

The Winter Soldier’s shiny arm went back to his side. 

Eleven glanced back at Papa, who was looking at her expectantly. She opened the bag, pulling out a small animal, a toy, she realized with surprise. It was a tiger, she had seen a few in her picture books, and had read the word during lessons. 

She looked at the tiger, confused. 

“Manners.” Papa said. 

Eleven did not want to say anything to the Winter Soldier, but it didn’t seem like she had a choice.

“Thank you.” She said breathlessly. 

Something odd happened. The Winter Soldier blinked at her, and something that Eleven couldn’t identify flashed behind his eyes. His mouth, which had been a stony scowl, quirked upwards, almost a smile, and his mouth opened just a little as if to answer her before closing quickly, seeming to realize a mistake.

Eleven rushed back to Papa, gripping the tiger tightly. 

“You’ll be doing good work with the Winter Soldier when you’re older.” Papa reminded her. Eleven nodded, staring at Four, who was now back to his blank, empty stare. She glanced at Zola, who was looking with surprise at Four, and then glared at Eleven. 

Eleven pressed against Papa. 

To her relief, that seemed to be the end of the visit. The guards took her back to her room, without Papa. Eleven wanted to cling to him and beg him not to leave her alone, but she knew what happened when she did that. 

She waited in her room, perking up when Papa returned. He smiled at her, sitting on the edge of the bed. “Well?” He asked. “What did you think of him?”

Eleven was quiet, trying to think of a good answer. 

“Will he be thrown out?” She asked before she could stop herself. 

Papa tilted his head, slightly confused.

“If reprogramming doesn’t work.” She said, quieter.

“Of course.” Papa said. Eleven had no idea how to feel.

“Merry Christmas.” Papa said, smiling at her once again, before leaving her alone. The slam of the metal door echoed in her room. 

Eleven laid down, holding up the tiger, examining it closely. The tiger didn’t seem to object, staring back at her with marble eyes that reminded her of the Winter Soldier, that is until…

“Older brother.” She whispered to herself. “Four.”

*** *** ***

“You can’t tell my dad I’m here!” Tony begged from the backseat of Peggy’s car. 

After having been found by the woman, she had checked them over to make sure they weren’t seriously injured. Once she was confident they were more or less fine, she had dragged them to her car, and now Tony was losing his mind, as Peggy had told him she was going back to his father.

Peggy glanced at him from the rearview mirror. “He’s worried about you, he wants you home-”

“Oh my God, are you kidding me? He’s not worried, he’s mad that I’m not expanding the Stark name or something.” Tony snapped.

Peggy sighed. “I know it feels like he’s tough on you, but he cares about you, Tony.” 

Tony glared. “I don’t even know you. I’ve never met you. You don’t know anything.” He was quiet for a moment. “How do you even know my dad?”

“We worked together during the war.” She said. Tony blinked. 

“Huh. I don’t think he ever mentioned you. Which is weird, if he’s not berating me or complaining, he’s talking about the war.” Tony paused. “Or maybe he did mention you and I just wasn’t listening. I’m good at tuning him out.”

“Bigger problems.” El said, voice quiet. She ran her hands through her hair, wincing slightly when her singed skin made contact. 

“Whatever.” Tony snapped.

“No, she’s right. Who attacked you?” Peggy asked.

“The Winter Soldier.” El said quietly.

“We don’t know that. We don’t even know who the Winter Soldier is.” Tony said.

Peggy pursed her lips. “He’s...that can’t be possible.”

“Do you know about him?” Tony asked. 

“He’s a ghost story. Most people don’t even believe he’s real.” Peggy said slowly. 

“He’s real. Very real.” El insisted.

“Why do they call him the Winter Soldier?” Tony asked.

“It sounds bitchin’.” El said.

Tony shrugged. “I mean, I guess-”

“How do you know it was the Winter Soldier?” Peggy asked, sounding like she was humoring them.

“We picked up a Russian transmission saying something about him coming. We just didn’t think he was coming here.” Tony said. “And it still might not be him, why would the Russians send a scary Winter Soldier after us?”

“Because of me,” El said. “Because of you.” 

Tony blinked. “How do you know-”

“I met him,” El said. “In the lab. They said he was Four. And...and in 2018.” El said, dropping her voice. 

“What was that?” Peggy asked, sounding confused. She frowned when her car suddenly sputtered, looking confused. She pulled over to the side of the road. 

Tony glanced over at El. She had a bloody nose again. “Why-”

“We need to go. Get the others. Call Peter.” She whispered, watching Peggy put the car in park. 

“Stay here.” Peggy said, climbing out. 

“El, this is crazy. If what you think is true, there’s a Russian assassin after us. We can’t just wander about aimlessly. And the machine is back at the cabin, probably blown up. We can’t call Peter.” Tony whispered. 

“I know who he is. The Winter Soldier.” El hissed. “I need you to trust me.”

“Well, I don’t-” Tony started, but El glared fiercely.

“Then she’s going to take you back to your dad!” 

Tony paused, going over which was worse: getting murdered by an infamous assassin or facing his dad.

Evidently, the latter was worse, as Tony threw open the car door and started sprinting, El right behind him.

“Hey!” Peggy shouted, but the two only sped up.

El and Tony disappeared into the forest, darkness swallowing them whole.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i would love ideas or little nuggets of inspiration for said novel, thanks for asking


	10. Super Soldier #11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> short, and more of a clarification chapter. dont worry, i rip heartstrings in the next one :)

“This is great.” Will said.

Everyone stared at him. 

The entire group had been gathered in Joyce’s house, with El and Tony having managed to cap off Will, Mike, Lucas, Dustin, and Max before they reached the burning remains of the cabin. 

Joyce was late at work, and Jonathan, Steve, Nancy, and Robin stood in the back of the room, looking concerned, except for Robin, who was looking confused.

Will turned pink, embarrassed to have all eyes on him. “I mean...it’s not the Upside Down. As far as we know, the Mindflayer isn’t involved in this.” 

“The Mindflayer is the one that tried to eat everyone?” Robin asked. Steve had briefly filled her in, but Tony had a feeling she was still lost.

“Yeah, come on, try to keep up.” Steve said, enjoying his knowledgeable status.

“And...why did he try to kill you?” Mike said, huddled next to El.

“I don’t think he was trying to kill her. I think he was trying to kill me.” Tony said slowly. 

Dustin nodded slowly. “If this Hydra was involved in the lab, they’d want El back. Owens wouldn’t really be able to control them because he’s not with them. A grenade wouldn’t kill El, but it’d kill Tony.”

Tony swallowed, trying to smile. “And here I thought people were starting to like me.”

“So it doesn’t end with the Winter Soldier. It ends with Hydra.” Nancy said, horror starting to dawn on her face.

El nodded. 

“Barnes.” Tony said slowly, looking to El. “Was...you said something about Bucky. Was it Bucky Barnes?!” 

El’s silence was all he needed. 

“Oh my God. Oh my God.” Tony paced.

“Who’s...Bucky Barnes?” Jonathan asked.

“Steve Roger’s best friend.” Tony said breathlessly, mind running a million miles an hour.

Mike’s eyes widened. “Steve Rogers like…?”

“Like Captain America, yeah.” Tony ran his hand through his hair. “He died on a mission, only...what if he didn’t? Hydra could have captured him and somehow convinced him to join them. The super-soldier serum could keep him running around, and then they could continue research into it…” 

“But that means…” Lucas trailed off, glancing at El.

Tony looked at her grimly. “El was a Hydra experiment, a super-soldier. It all was Hydra, it was always Hydra. They caused the Demogorgon to come, they opened the gate for the second time, they’re the whole damn reason any of us are here in the first place.” 

There was silence.

“How...how can we even fight that?” Robin said softly. 

Tony was quiet, stomach hurting from the nerves. 

“I...I don’t know.”

There were headlights at the front of the house. 

Immediately, everyone was on the defense. Steve snatched up his nail bat, Nancy cocked her rifle, Lucas readied his slingshot, and El glared at the door. 

Tony dug through his backpack, realizing all he had were spare parts. He was useless.

The door swung open-

It was Hopper and Joyce, looking startled to see so many weapons aimed at them. Peggy Carter was behind them.

“Well, hello to you too.” Hopper grumbled. El rushed forward, hugging him tightly.

Tony ignored the ache in his chest.

Peggy glared at him fiercely.

“Would anybody care to fill me in on what exactly is going on here?!” She snapped.

“Hydra.” El said, her voice muffled. Peggy jumped, going pale at the mention of Hydra.

“H...How do you know about Hydra?”

El scooted against Hopper, looking scared.

“I was one of their super soldiers.”


	11. The End of the Line

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> every time someone asks me to give tony and bucky happiness it only fuels my angst

El was alone, which was uncommon. 

The adults were discussing their options with her friends, trying to fill them in on several discoveries. El had managed to slip away, unnoticed by anyone but Hopper, who had just given her a nod and a desperate, silent plea of _don't do anything stupid._

She sat in Will's room, unsure if what she was about to do was a wise idea. Most likely not, especially considering what happened the last time she tried this...

God, she wished Peter were here. 

But he wasn't, so it was up to her. 

She turned on the walkie talkie, adjusting the channel so that the loud, crackling static drowned out the voices outside the door.

El took a deep breath, staring at the pillowcase in her hand.

Casting doubt from her mind, she tied it around her head, closing her eyes and letting the static take her away to the black infinity.

*** *** ***  
She found him easily. 

He was sitting, bouncing slightly, in a car. The odd black face mask was on again, and El saw he was gripping his gun tightly. 

Slowly, as if weighed down by elephants, she went to him.

"Four?" She asked quietly, her voice seeming to echo in the emptiness. The man did not move.

"Four? It's me. Eleven. Do...do you remember me?" She asked. There was no reaction.

El wrestled with the ache in her chest, squeezing her eyes shut, cursing herself when a tear slipped out. "Bucky." She whispered.

It was subtle, so subtle that El would not have noticed had she not had the powers she did. There was a hesitancy around Bucky as if he knew what was coming, but wanted to pretend he didn't.

El opened her eyes. Bucky was looking at her, eyes blank.

"...you don't have to do this." El said, reaching out to him. Bucky's eyes followed her hand. 

El gently grabbed the metal hand, shifting his grip from the gun to her palm. She could feel the cold metal, the gears shifting in her fingers, twitching like he couldn't decide whether to pull away or not.

Something shifted behind his eyes.

"You know me." El insisted, squeezing his hand gently. The metal fingers twitched. "You met me when I was little. You gave me a toy tiger."

She knelt down next to him, grabbing his metal hand with her free one, made of flesh and bone. "I kept it. I only lost it when I left."

Was that slight hurt in his eyes? Or was she imagining it?

"And I was scared of you." El said, more tears springing to her eyes, ashamed. "And I know you're scared too. You're there. You don't want to come out. You don't want to come out so they can hurt you more. But we need you, Bucky." 

The metal hand stopped twitching. Bucky stared at her. 

"I know you can hear me." El whispered. "I...I need you to show me."

The metal hand squeezed hers, not in aggression, a silent plea to stop, to leave him alone. A warning that she wouldn't like what she was about to see. 

"I know you don't want me to see." El whispered, holding his hand close. "But I need too."

There was a stall. She could practically see the fear hanging around him like a plague. 

"I need to see. I need to understand what happened." El said. "I want to help my brother."

Bucky looked away, an air of weak resignation.

_You won't like it. _

_I know._

*** *** ***  
El gasped, an explosion jerking her out of a stupor. She wasn't in the blackness, she wasn't in the house. 

She was in an open field, the ground and sky matching colors of ash and decay. And it was cold, so very, very cold. 

There was screaming. 

El whirled around, seeing a long trench, filled with men holding guns and covered in mud and blood. 

"GO GO GO!" Someone screamed, and the men poured out of the trench, racing past El, paying her no mind, sprinting to some goal that El didn't understand.

The explosions began again, and El started running with a shriek, a plume of fire nearly engulfing her. She could feel the singeing heat, itching to reach out and burn her away. 

Where was she?!

Popping gunfire filled her ears, and she covered them, already feeling herself cry again. Someone beside her fell, a spray of blood exploding from their chest before they fell silent, eyes staring at the grey, emotionless sky. 

Then she saw him. 

Bucky was a tad younger, his hair shorter, and face filled with a mixture of emotions, but it was him. He was desperately firing at a group of approaching soldiers in black gear, a skull with tentacles emblazoned on their uniforms.

A war against Hydra.

The scene shifted, and El stumbled, freezing wind suddenly threatening to sweep her off her feet. She grabbed onto something, a piece of warped metal, gasping when she saw herself barely avoiding falling into a snowy ravine.

She was on a train, zooming along a cliff face precariously.

"BUCKY!" Someone yelled. She turned, blinking in surprise when she saw Steve Rogers, looking desperate, reaching out to Bucky, who was hanging desperately from a loose rail. El could see the naked fear on his face, the disbelief that this was how it ended. 

Steve scooted down along the broken train car, looking nearly as scared as Bucky. "GRAB MY HAND!" He yelled.

Bucky reached out-and the rail broke, sending him and El falling down the seemingly endless drop. The cold bit into El, and her screams mixed with Bucky's, seeing Steve's grief-struck expression-

The scene changed again, and El was in a tiny, dimly lit room, watching Bucky weakly thrash as scientists held him down, his metal arm glinting evilly in the shadowy green light.

One of the scientists look straight at El, and against all logic, she ran, sprinting down the halls, desperate to be anywhere but that awful room.

Screaming, screaming filled with pain and fear charged the air, and adrenaline burst in El's chest. The metal halls rumbled, twisting and spiraling in on her like the mouth of a monster. 

The closing hall caught her, and she fell-

The cold was nearly an entity now, twisted and hungry, claws scraping at El like a wild animal. There was frosted, yellow-tinted glass around her now, and she couldn't move, tears running down her face, somehow not freezing.

_"I'm with you to the end of the line, pal."_ Bucky's voice rang out distantly.

And then it was overshadowed by gunfire, screaming, and words she didn't understand but she knew held power.

El gasped, and she was back in the blackness, out of Bucky's mind. 

There was a click behind her, and she turned.

She was staring down the barrel of a machine gun.

There was a horrific bang-

El ripped the pillowcase off her face, gasping for air. The room was as she left it, the static no longer playing. Dead battery. 

The screaming played in her mind, unending and evil, as she curled up, tears flowing down her face, unbidden.

*** *** ***

Peter hummed mindlessly, popping the last M&M in his mouth. Tony would be back today, which was good. This weekend had been too quiet. 

He paused, glancing over at the small TV in the corner. He had called the group a little earlier today, but...

Peter winced, remembering Tony's tear-stained face.

That settled it, and he plopped down on a chair, fiddling with wires and buttons until the TV sprung to life, trying to reach through the timelines.

Peter grinned when the blurry picture came into view, but then immediately frowned. 

It was the cabin-or what was left of it-on fire. 

"El? Tony?" Peter asked hesitantly. No answer. 

The TV dissolved into static, the last thing Peter hearing being shouting. Shouting not in English. 

Peter leaped to his feet. "FRIDAY? Did you catch that?!" He asked breathlessly.

"I was unable to translate, due to the quality of sound." The AI answered, sounding apologetic. "But I can confirm the speakers were using the Russian language, if that helps."

Peter's heart fell into his chest. 

"Oh no."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Peter in ffh: i love led zeppelin  
Me: you absolute fucking idiot


	12. Sins of a Father

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote a chapter on Thursday, and didn’t post it, not really sure why. Then I deleted the entire chapter and wrote this one. And I’m really happy with how it turned out. Sorry for the wait, but y’all deserve good content. 
> 
> Ft. The confrontation you all wanted since chapter 1

Tony paced, unable to notice anything except the sick feeling in his stomach. The adults had run off to who knows where, apparently to call Owens and Peggy’s boss. Nancy and Jonathan had gone with them.

So that left Steve in charge, now with babysitter backup in the form of Robin.

“El’s still in there.” Mike said, coming out from the guest room. “She says she still wants to be left alone.”

“Is she alright?” Max asked. Mike looked unsure of how to answer.

“They can’t leave us here.” Dustin said, still very irritated with having been left behind. “We could have helped them.”

“I have my suit gear.” Tony said, still very mad no one had taken it seriously, least of all Hopper, who had yelled that the last thing he needed was to send him home in a plastic bag.

“And El kicked the dude’s ass once, she can do it again.” Lucas said.

Tony bit his lip. “You weren’t there. This guy-the Winter Soldier, or whatever he used to be...he’s barely human. He just...he just came at us. He wanted to kill me.”

“You said El stopped him.” Will said slowly. 

“Yeah. Barely.” Tony said.

Dustin shook his head. “I wish Suzie was here. She could help. I know she could.” As if in a silent pact, everyone immediately looked down when he said this. Dustin blinked, looking confused. “What?” 

“Nothing, nothing.” Mike said too quickly.

Dustin looked horrified as it dawned on him. “Wait...do you think I’m lying?!” 

There was weak muttering, but Max nodded. Dustin looked as though someone had just spit on him. “I’m not lying! Steve, Steve, you believe me right?!” He whirled around to Steve, who looked startled to be put on the spot.

“I mean...it does seem a little far fetched. I mean, come on-” Steve started delicately, but Dustin threw his hands up, furious.

“I can’t believe this!” He snapped. “I finally get to join the girlfriend sector and none of you believe me?!”

Will and Tony glanced at each other, suddenly realizing they were the only single people in the group. “We could always date each other.” Tony deadpanned.

Will turned red, for some reason, and rolled his eyes.

Dustin would have probably continued to rant in defense of Suzie, but headlights suddenly shone through the windows, and Tony was suddenly aware of the sound of a car engine. “Are they back already?” He asked, peeling down the blinds to look out the window.

There was a Rolls Royce outside, and a terrifyingly familiar man inside. The man made eye contact with Tony and glared at him, and for a second, Tony’s brain struggled to catch up, confused with why the guy didn’t like him-

Tony gasped, horrified, running back from the blinds. “What’s wrong?! Is it the Winter Soldier?!” Robin asked.

“Worse.” Tony choked. “It’s my dad.”

*** *** ***

_“The caller you are trying to reach is currently unavailable. Please leave a message after the tone.”_ The inbox message voice sounded like a curse to Peter.

The high pitched beep rang out, and Peter winced, suddenly realizing he had to start speaking.

“H-hey guys, uh, it’s Peter. It’s not technically an emergency, I mean, I’m okay, but in the 80s some stuff is going on...um, so I called them, and the cabin was on fire, and-wait, is this even the right number?! Shit, I-” The dial tone beeped again, and Peter realized he had used up his time and hadn’t even gotten close to the point. 

“Dammit.” He muttered. 

He hesitated with calling again, partly because he wasn’t sure if this number was still available and he might give away sensitive information, and partly because he didn’t want to risk rambling again.

Peter paused, unsure if he wanted to call Tony and inevitably cause him to freak out. Although, if the call did go to who he thought it would, he would probably freak out anyway. As far as he could tell, Tony wasn’t carrying an active (and rightfully held) grudge, but Peter was fairly certain he didn’t want to come home to any surprises. 

“Dammit.” He muttered again, selfishly wishing he had never tried to call. The phone buzzed, and Peter yelped, startled. Nearly dropping it, he accepted the caller, not even seeing the ID. “H-hello?” He asked shakily.

“Kid? Is that you? Are you alright?” A familiar, PSA-like voice asked.

Peter nodded, then internally berated himself. He was on the phone. “Yeah, I’m okay. Tony’s out, so I didn’t exactly know who to call…”

“What’s the problem?” Captain America asked.

Peter swallowed. “Does...does Sergeant Barnes still speak Russian?”

*** *** ***  
Steve opened the door, waiting for a few angry knocks before he finally faced the infamous Howard Stark. Somehow, the man was exactly what he imagined; scowling and permanently pissed and disappointed. It reminded Steve of his own father. Except where his father basically let him get away with anything as long as it wasn’t too obvious, Howard Stark was a micromanager for someone who really didn’t want to be micromanaged.

“Can I help you?” Steve asked, in a tone he hoped sounded like I-totally-don’t-have-six-children-hidden-in-the-spare-room. Robin gave him a look, then went back to pretending to be fascinated with the TV guide on the sofa.

“My son. Where is he?” Stark snapped.

Steve blinked. “Uh, who is your son exactly?” He asked.

“Don’t play stupid. I saw him. He was at the window.” Stark snarled, looking dangerous, even for an old guy. Also, Steve didn’t think he could get away as easily with beating up a rich and powerful weapons distributor. 

“There’s a very interesting psychological phenomenon that occurs when you really want something.” Robin said with ease. Steve blinked, a bit impressed by her authoritative voice, as if she was scolding a child. “It’s called seeing things, and I’m guessing that’s what happened.” 

Stark fixed his glare on her. “And who the hell are you?!”

She looked up at him, meeting his glare easily. “None of your business, buddy. Now get the hell off this property. You don’t have a warrant, and I don’t care that you’re Howard Stark. I’ll call the cops on you all the same. And wouldn’t that be quite the media circus?” She smiled sweetly.

Steve grinned and turned back to Stark, but the older man was staring at something at Robin’s feet. “Isn’t that his bag?” Stark asked.

Robin followed his stare, seeing Tony’s backpack was indeed next to her, and was also tipped over, showing off his incriminating unfinished tinkerings and prototypes.

Steve looked at Robin desperately, waiting for her to fill in the cracks, but Robin seemed to have short-circuited. “Well shit.” She said, in a voice you would use to announce the weather.

Stark pushed Steve aside roughly, walking in the house with a look of disdain. Robin was on her feet, rushing up to him, trying to disguise panic with anger. “Hey, didn’t you hear me?! No warrant, no entrance-” Stark pushed her aside, not really with malice, just irritation, but all the same, Steve saw red.

(Not because he liked her or anything, but…)

“Hey! Don’t you touch her again, you piece of shit or I swear to God-” Steve strode up to Stark threateningly, and Stark only seemed to take energy from the tension.

“Steve-” Robin said warningly, but Steve ignored her. He could only feel the energy building, preparing to boil over in a full out brawl, but he really didn’t care anymore because that bastard put his _dirty fingers on Robin-_

“Dad stop!” A new voice yelled out, looking scared. Tony was standing at the doorway, the other kids-sans El, for some reason-peeking out behind the door, watching the scene with a mix of horror and fascination. 

“Tony.” Stark said, fury only renewed. 

Tony held his hands up in a sort of surrender, completely devoid of any confidence Steve had come to find so endearing over the summer. “I-I know you’re mad-”

“I’m beyond mad.” Howard said in a dangerous voice. “I find out that my son is wasting his summer in some hick town in the middle of damn Indiana, and you think you can just talk your way out of it?!”

Tony winced, stumbling over his words. “No no, listen-”

“I’m way past listening! Get your sorry ass in the car, we’re going home.” Howard turned, expecting him to follow. For a second it looked like Tony would, but suddenly, as usual, Dustin decided to get involved.

“What the hell, man?! Leave him alone!” Dustin shouted, standing in front of Tony, staring Howard down. 

“Dustin, don’t-” Tony started, but was surprised to see Max of all people emerge after him, glaring at Howard with even more venom. Before Tony could process it, the group-his friends-had created a sort of barrier around him, daring Howard to come forward. 

Howard blinked, looking as surprised as Tony felt. “Who the hell are you?!” He snapped.

“We’re his friends, you crusty bastard! Get the hell out of my house!” Will shouted, flipping Howard off. Howard stepped back, startled by what looked like a kindergartener cussing him out.

“Tony. Now. Let’s go before you get in more trouble than you already are.” Howard growled.

Tony crossed his arms, joining the army of glares. “Tony!” Howard snapped.

“No.” Tony said quietly, ignoring the quaver in his voice. 

Howard turned slowly, the veins in his neck looking close to exploding. “Pardon?” He asked dangerously.

“No! I didn’t do anything wrong! What’s so awful about spending the summer here?!” Tony snapped back. 

“You’re embarrassing me-” 

“Maybe you need to reevaluate what embarrasses you!” Tony shouted, stepping in front of the group, bottled emotions suddenly rising to the surface like a long-dormant volcano. “You’re always disappointed in me! I do everything you ask! And yet it’s never, ever enough for you! I’ve tried to please you my whole life and it’s gotten me jack shit!” 

Tony ignored the tears overflowing in his eyes. “You never listen to me! You never did anything for me! You never told me you loved me!” The fury overflowed completely, and the memory of El and Hopper popped up like a beacon. “You never even told me you loved me! So I’m embarrassing you?! GOOD!” 

Tony tightened his hands into fists, closing his eyes. The last bubble of fury, rage, and pain popped out like a painful splinter. “I NEVER WANT TO BE ANYTHING YOU COULD BE PROUD OF! I HATE YOU!” He screamed.

There was a stiff silence. Robin gave Tony a thumbs up from behind Howard’s back. 

Howard’s face darkened, and he started striding towards Tony, hands balled in tight fists. Tony stumbled back, suddenly realizing he went too far, and this was going to be the time his father finally made good on the threat to beat the shit out of him-

There was a shriek, and Howard flew backward, slamming into the wall, looking dazed. Tony turned slowly, entirely unsure how to feel when he saw El standing at the end of the hall, her nose bloody, eyes narrowed and arm outstretched at Howard. 

Howard stared at her in shock, seeming to put together that this girl was not to be messed with. “How…?!” He flinched when El stomped towards him, swiping her hand, throwing him towards the door that led out of the house.

“Don’t even think about it.” She hissed, voice low and deadly.

Howard scooted away from her, no longer a perfect picture of a businessman. Now he was a disheveled, terrified bully. “Who...who are you?!” He asked hoarsely.

El knelt, eye level with Howard. “Tony’s friend. And your worst nightmare.” 

Tony grinned like an idiot. 

Howard looked at Tony, as if expecting Tony to crumble, blubber apologies, and rebuild the status quo he valued so dearly. “I’ll see you in August, Dad.” Tony said casually. “Tell Mom and Jarvis I said hi, and that I miss them.”

“Tony-” Howard said, now desperate.

“I think we’re done here. You can leave.” Tony said.

“You heard him.” El said quietly when Howard stared at him in shock. “Leave.” She stood up, standing over the man. “And if I see you again, I’ll break your arm.”

Howard scrambled to his feet, stumbling out. Tony had expected some sort of speech, whether a plea for forgiveness or a vague threat, he wasn’t sure. But somehow, the undignified panic that Howard had so often inflicted on him that had now turned around and bitten his father on the ass seemed...it seemed right. Empowering, almost.

“You okay?” Lucas asked Tony. 

Tony was quiet, and then gave a wobbly smile he didn’t have to force. “Never better.” He rasped. “You…” He looked at the others. “You shouldn’t have had to do that.”

“We have to.” Mike said. “You’re in the Party, after all.”

Tony looked up, surprised, seeing all the other in agreement. He looked at El. “I...am?” He asked delicately.

El nodded, a silent apology in her eyes. “Always in the party. No matter what.” She said.


	13. The Confession

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> agggggh sorry yall. life attacked me viciously buuuuuut on the bright side my exhibition for color guard went great! ill link the music if yall want cause the song is amazing

Peter paced anxiously, painfully aware of the smoke trailing out from each step he took. His head throbbed, but at the moment, he didn't care too much. He would occasionally sniff, lifting his mask to wipe the steady stream of blood. 

He had been patrolling, thinking that it would calm his nerves. He was very wrong.

"Karen, status report on Tony's whereabouts?" He asked, knowing he was being paranoid.

He had called Tony and informed him of the translation that Bucky had given him. Essentially, the Russian guys on the video had claimed there was no sign of a death, but somehow that made Peter feel worse.

Something had happened, and he wasn't able to help.

"Tony is still on the plane. His ETA is an hour and a half." Karen said. "Peter, you seem to be in emotional distress, it is advisable-"

"I'm fine, I'm fine. I just need him to get here. Then we can figure it out." Peter snapped. He paused, hearing the elevator ding. "Is Pepper here?" He asked, confused. 

The lights went out.

_DANGER!_

Peter dove out of the way as the glass behind him shattered, and a team of special ops swung into the room, guns raised.

Peter reacted in an instant, a wall of fire swinging up between him and the men. They yelled, shouting something Peter didn't understand with the ringing in his ears.

He swung his hands around him, a wall of intense heat surrounding him. For a second, his vision blurred, but he forced himself to focus. El had called the powers 'a bad battery', and Peter's battery was probably on 40%.

Something white sprayed through the foam, and Peter yelped, realizing they had fire retardant. He shot a web at one of the men, trapping him against the wall.

35%. He must be an iPhone battery.

He struggled, focusing on renewing the fire while also trapping the attackers against the wall, feeling his head spin.

23%.

He gasped, gagging suddenly when his mouth filled with blood from his nose. He couldn't breathe, drowning in his own blood that had built up inside the mask. The flames grew bright orange, weakening. 

With a shout of exertion, Peter fell to his knees, and fire exploded, rolling out like a tidal wave from hell. He yanked his mask up, gasping, feeling even more nauseous when a surprising amount of blood fell from the mask, splatting disgustingly against the floor.

He gasped for air, panting.

A figure emerged in front of Peter, looking interested. Peter looked up weakly, dull surprise sparking in his head.

"Well well." General Ross mused. "I had no idea that Spider-man and the firestarter that's got Congress talking are one and the same." 

*** *** ***  
"I'm bored." Steve announced, sitting on the couch, bouncing his leg. The kids had congregated in Will's room, talking to Tony in hushed tones, occasionally shouting an insult at Howard.

"Good for you." Robin said, standing vigil with Steve.

"Here. Let's play the question game." He offered. 

"What the hell is the-"

"When was the last time you peed your pants?" Steve asked.

Robin opened her mouth, closed it, and then smiled slightly. "An hour ago when Stark was about to beat Tony up."

Steve snorted. "What?"

"It was only a little though!" Robin protested, laughing nonetheless. "Okay...my turn." She paused, thinking. "Have you..." She trailed off, as if unsure whether to ask or not. "...ever been in love?"

Steve went quiet, thinking. "Yeah, Nancy Wheeler. First semester, senior year." He imitated an explosion, chuckling.

"Oh my God," Robin said lazily. "She's such a priss."

"Hm...turns out, not really." Steve said.

Robin scoffed at that. "Are you still in love with Nancy?"

"No." Steve said immediately.

Robin blinked. "Why not?"

He paused. "I think it's because I found someone a little bit better for me."

Robin looked down at her hands.

Steve sighed. "It's crazy. Ever since Dustin got home he's been saying 'You gotta find your Suzie, you gotta find your Suzie'. And this girl, the one that I like...it's someone that I...I didn't even talk to in school." He looked out the car window, reminiscing what had once seemed so important, but now seemed incredibly stupid and childish.

"And I don't even know why," He continued. "Maybe 'cause Tommy H. woulda made fun of me or...I wouldn't be...prom king?" He shook his head. "It's stupid, I mean Dustin's right, it's all just a bunch of bullshit anyways. Because when I think about it I should have been hanging out with this girl the whole time."

Steve glanced at Robin, who was staring to her right, looking at anything but him. "I mean, first of all, she's hilarious. She's so funny. I mean, I feel like this summer, I have laughed harder than I have laughed in...in a really long time. And she's smart. Way smarter than me. You know, she decoded a Russian message in less than a day. She's brave too, she stood up a world-famous weapons dealer and basically told him to kiss her ass. You know? She's...honestly unlike anyone I've ever met before." 

Robin was quiet. 

"...Robin?" Steve asked hesitantly. "Did...did you just die or something?"

"No." Robin said in a wavering voice. "I...am still alive."

There was a heavy silence for a moment. "...what do you think?" Steve asked. 

"About?" Robin prompted.

"This girl." Steve said, waiting for some sort of sign.

"She sounds awesome." Robin said, a hint of confidence back.

"She is awesome. And what about the guy?" Steve asked.

"I think he must be on drugs and not thinking straight."

Steve blinked. "Really? 'Cause I think he's thinking a lot more clearly than usual."

"He's not." Robin said with authority. "Look...he doesn't even know this girl. And if he did know her, like...like really know her, I..." She swallowed hard. "I don't think he'd even want to be her friend."

Steve shifted, confused. "No, that's not true. There's no way that's true."

"Listen, Steve," Robin nearly whispered. "It's shocked me to my core, but I like you. I really like you. But I'm not like your other friends. And I'm not like Nancy Wheeler."

"That's exactly what I like about you." Steve said.

"Remember what I said about Click's class? Being jealous and obsessed?" Steve did remember. She had told him one day at work when it was slow, with an air of light-hearted-ness, as if she was teasing herself for liking him, and him for not being able to get a single girl all summer.

She swallowed hard, hands shaking. "It wasn't because I had a crush on you. It's...it's because she wouldn't stop staring at you." 

Steve blinked. "Mrs. Click?"

Robin managed a wet laugh. "Tammy Thompson." Robin closed her eyes, remembering it like it was yesterday. "I wanted her to look at me. But...she couldn't pull her eyes away from you, and your...stupid hair."

Robin turned to Steve, ears filled with tears. "And I didn't understand because you would get bagel crumbs all over the floor. And you asked dumb questions. And you were a _douchebag!" _

Robin shook her head at the absurdity of it all. "And...and you didn't even like her! And...I would go home and just scream into my pillow."

"But Tammy Thompson's a girl." Steve said.

"Steve." Robin said softly.

"Yeah?" Steve asked, trying to figure it out. He blinked, the pieces suddenly fitting together, and he felt like the biggest dingus in the world. 

"Oh." He said quietly. 

"Oh." Robin said softly.

"Holy shit." Steve said.

"Yeah." Robin agreed, leaning back, looking out the window. "Holy shit."

She waited for the disgust, the horror, the demands to get out of the house and to never see him again because not only had she rejected him, she was wrong and broken, and a freak-

"I mean...yeah," Steve said slowly. "Tammy Thompson, you know, she's cute and all, yeah...but I mean, she's a total dud."

Robin turned to him, shocked. "She is not." She said dumbly.

"Yes she is! She wants to be like, a singer! She wants to move to Nashville and shit!" Steve protested.

"She has dreams." Robin said, feeling obligated to defend her.

"She can't even hold a tune!"

Robin rolled her eyes, smiling. Steve turned to face her. "She's practically tone-deaf, have you heard her?"

Robin laughed, and Steve grinned. "You see me now tonight!" He sang in a high pitched voice.

"She does not sound like that-"

"She sounds exactly like that!"

"No-"

"That was a great impersonation of her-"

"You sound like a Muppet!" Robin laughed.

"She sounds like a Muppet!" Steve argued. "She sounds like a Muppet giving birth!" 

Robin cackled, joining in with Steve, mocking Tammy Thompson and her Muppet voice.

Nothing needed to change.


	14. Lackey and Pierce

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while so here's a refresher:  
So this is that Stranger things and spiderman marvel crossover, and last time we checked in, we found out that in the 1980s, El was actually part of a Hydra experiment, and the Winter Soldier was also part of that, going by the moniker 004 by those who were in El's division. Hopper, Peggy Carter and Joyce ran off to call Dr. Owens and Peggy's boss so they can stop the Winter Soldier from killing everyone and take down Hydra. Meanwhile, in present day, Peter just got attacked by Ross and his goons for unspecified reasons. I think that's all you really need to know for now, anyway I'm sorry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...so how we all doing?
> 
> quick update on me:  
-I applied to be an extra for stranger things s4 since I live only twenty minutes away from where they film it all, but they didn't call me back  
-BUT they're filming at my college (turning the admissions building into a mental asylum) so ya girl might still be an extra!!!!  
-who else got hyped for that teaser???? give me some ideas on how to end this book, fortunately. (unfortunately for yall tho)  
-how's quarantine? it sucks. it really sucks. my final winter guard performance got cancelled, and i cried for days about it. prom? nah, lmaoooooooo
> 
> anyway, hopefully this little treat makes your day a little better. thanks for sticking with me. and i WILL finish this.

Peter’s head felt like it was filled with angry bees.

Distantly, he could hear Ross and his goons talking, maybe to him, maybe to each other, but he was too busy focusing on the buzzing in his head, loud and present. He felt strangely disconnected from the world around him, only aware of the beehive in his skull.

_Am I dying?_ He wondered distantly. _It’s not so bad, I guess...could be worse._

He supposed he should at least attempt to listen in, and forced himself to focus in on what Ross was saying. He assumed it was Ross, based on the gravelly, pissed off tone the speaker used.

“-call D.C, tell them we have an enhanced individual...call the Raft...” Peter felt sick. 

He knew just enough about the Raft to be afraid of it. He had somewhat intended to ask Captain America and his merry band about it, just so he could be informed. He knew it was somewhat a possibility he would be sent there, what with the disarray of the current Sokovia Accords and all, but it never seemed real. 

Tony had said he was safe from the government. He was an Avenger in name. So why…

Peter sputtered, hot blood dribbling into his mouth. He felt nauseous, and gagged, somewhat relieved nothing came up. He felt himself jerk forward, and realized the people holding him had dropped him. Peter forced his eyes open, ignoring vertigo, staring at the crisp shoes of Secretary Ross. 

There wasn’t a spot of blood on them.

“So…” Ross sounded excited, in a sickening way, as though he had finally found the mosquito that had been buzzing around his house and had smashed it. “This is quite the plot twist. The new vigilante that’s been setting New York on fire is in actuality the same Spider-man that Stark has been so eager to protect. Tell me, when did you feel bold enough to start using your more destructive abilities?”

Peter spat blood onto the perfect shoes, forcing the bees to subside for now. 

The shoes-now stained with dark blood-recoiled, and then shot forward, striking Peter’s face. He felt his nose crunch. “Get him set. We’re leaving.” Ross said, voice filled with barely disguised disgust. 

A low rumble of thunder echoed through the sky, causing the smaller objects set on tables to vibrate. Peter frowned, bees creeping in along the edges of his mind. Strange, the skyline had been clear not too long ago.

“Sir, there’s a storm. It’s not safe to…” The new voice-some soldier of some kind-trailed off, presumably under Ross’ withering glare.

“What the hell do I pay you for?! We’re leaving now! There’s been worse weather-” As if to spite him, thunder crackled, and Peter winced, closing his eyes again when lightning flashed. The thunder didn’t seem to stop, almost growing louder with each passing second. 

And then suddenly came to a stop. 

“Ah, well, it seems we have arrived at an inconvenient time.” A soft, accented voice said. Peter, despite the increasing amount of bees, was able to pick up on the barely concealed anxiety of the speaker.

“People of Earth, I-” A more familiar voice said, but he was cut off, the room exploding into gunfire.

Adrenaline chased fatigue away, and Peter leapt up grabbing the nearest soldier and throwing him across the room. The other raised their weapon, but Peter was quicker.

“Shit shit damned mother_fucker_-” Peter muttered to himself, not even bothering to see who his new company was. Hopefully they weren’t looking to kill him, but at this point, he couldn’t be sure. 

He heard a shout, and saw something out of the corner of his eye-Ross aiming a gun at one of the new arrivals, who was fighting three soldiers at once, a large man obscured by shadow. Instinct took over, and Peter stretched his hand, a wall of flames driving Ross back.

He heard a high-pitched, half hysterical laugh from the voice that had held anxiety moments before. “Oh, I like this!” He crowed.

“Focus, Lackey!” A third, female voice snapped. Her tone implied she never had much patience with this ‘Lackey’ to begin with.

Peter refocused, forcing himself to focus on the flames that were already weakening. They roared at his command, sweeping across the room, and circling himself in a shield. They grew hotter, more concentrated. He intended to smoke them out, and dear God, the ceiling was already black with soot. 

The bees buzzed loudly, and black edged Peter’s vision. His knees gave out, and the fire disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, and he saw the elevator close, Ross’ glaring face staring at him.

Shit.

He blinked, and the blink must have lasted longer than he thought, because when he opened his eyes a man with pale skin and dark hair was leaning in his field of vision, eyes staring at Peter with vague interest. His face was covered in soot. 

“Hey.” Peter rasped, unsure of what else to say.

The man wrinkled his nose. “You are absolutely covered in blood.” He said.

Peter shrugged, even though it made the bees grow to a degree that sounded like a roar. Or maybe that was the thunder. “It happens.” He heard someone say-probably himself.

And then he passed out.

*** *** ***

“I’m gonna lose my mind.” Dustin groaned, making himself a sandwich. He frowned, looking into the scraped clean jar of peanut butter. “El, do you have anymore peanut butter?”

“You used it all.” El scolded. 

“You have plenty of peanut butter already.” Robin said. “Just eat the damn sandwich and stop whining.” 

“I like my sandwiches in a very particular way. I need more peanut butter or the peanut butter to jelly ratio will be thrown off.” Dustin said.

Tony groaned loudly from the corner, pillow covering his face. “This must be what Jack Torrance felt like in _The Shining_.”

Quipping was a good sign that he was recovering from the shock of confronting an emotionally abusive father. “What, gonna murder us all with an axe or something?” Mike asked.

Tony lifted the pillow from his face long enough to give Mike the evil eye. “I just might.”

Lucas scoffed. “You couldn’t lift the axe, stick-arms.”

“Oh, and you could?” Tony challenged.

Lucas opened his mouth to retort, but there was suddenly a loud _RRRRRRRR!_ from outside. To El and Tony, it sounded like a church bell in the morning on one’s execution.

“He’s here.” El said, what little color she had draining from her face. “The Winter Soldier.”

*** *** ***

“Fuck, fuck fuck fuck!” Hopper growled, headache growing worse when he watched the lights above him flicker. 

Fear prickled the back of his mind, and he forced himself to take a breath. _It’s not those damn monsters, there’s no portal, you’re fine-_

“Hopper?” Peggy Carter called out, British accent clipped and betraying her nerves. “Have you got a flashlight around here somewhere?” 

“Yeah, yeah...Joyce? You’re next to my desk.” Hopper called. “There’s a flashlight in the top drawer, on the left.”

“I don’t know if I wanna go through those drawers.” Joyce said, teasing.

“Oh, haha.” Hopper grumbled. “Will you just do it? The sooner we can call in the cavalry the sooner we can go home.”

He heard shuffling, and a few seconds later, a bright beam of light lit up the room, the police station eerie and otherworldly in the dim lighting. “Thanks.” He said. “Carter, have you-”

There was the unmistakable click of a gun, and Hopper drew his own, whirling around to see Carter standing stiff, eyes alight with fury in the shadows. A man with wispy, gold-red hair smiled at Hopper. 

“Chief Jim Hopper.” He said, voice clear of an accent. It surprised Hopper, oddly, but he supposed it would be foolish to believe Hydra was only native-born Commies and Nazis. “We finally meet each other face to face.”

“Drop your weapon.” Hopper growled. 

“I’m gonna have to ask you to drop your’s.” The man said, smiling calmly. Carter’s face betrayed no fear. If anything, she looked irritated. “I’d hate to splatter Miss Carter’s brains all over the floor. Didn’t you just get it waxed?”

“Agent Carter.” Carter snapped.

The man’s smile didn’t falter. “And civilian casualties are such a waste, wouldn’t you agree?”

Hopper heard a small gasp, and whirled around once again to see Joyce looking shocked. A man dressed in military gear had the barrel of his machine gun pressed into her back. Joyce bit her lip, not quite as skilled at nonchalance as Carter, but commendable nonetheless.

Hopper’s brain shorted out, all plans of escape fleeing him because there was Joyce, about _to be shot by people who shouldn’t even exist-_

“Put down your weapon, Chief Hopper.” The man said again, voice almost pleasant.

Cursing himself, Hopper slowly set his gun to the floor, hands above his head. Two other soldiers emerged from the shadows, grabbing his arms and yanking them roughly behind his back.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” The man said, laughing quietly to himself. “Where are my manners? I know all of you, but you don’t know me? That’s awful, truly awful.” His smile grew.

“My name is Alexander Pierce, Hydra operative.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's been SIX MONTHS IM SO SORRY


	15. Should I Stay or Should I Go?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heehee i've been waiting to write this scene since september

The Soldier kicked down the door, though a second later, it realized it hadn’t needed to. The latch on the door was clearly unlocked, although it supposed it didn’t matter too much in the end. Everyone in this house but the two targets were to die anyway. 

The Soldier stepped through the house on silent feet, the only sound echoing in the emptiness was the metal arm, creaking, still not quite right from when the first target attacked. The Soldier had deserved punishment for allowing the two to get away. It was better than that. It did not fail. And it would not fail this time, no matter what. 

It could not afford to fail this time, lest it be wiped again.

The Soldier flipped up its goggles, turning slowly to observe all the area around him. They had to be in here, but the Soldier supposed it could always double back and wait for its prey to return-

There was a loud noise, something that wasn’t quite gunfire but sounded nearly identical to it. The Soldier whirled around, rifle aimed at a cassette player, the cassette inside blaring at top volume. 

_”Darling you got to let me know, should I stay or should I go?”_ The tape wailed, and the Soldier barely suppressed a wince from the loud noise. 

How had it turned on?

“Now!” The Soldier whirled around when it heard someone shouted, only to get hit in the chest harshly with what felt like a harsh pulse of energy. It flew backwards, and hit the wall roughly. It was the target, the boy. The son of the weapons designer. They didn’t care how much the Soldier roughed the boy up as long as he was alive, which was a relief. The Soldier wasn’t one for petty revenge, but it wasn’t going to deny it was going to enjoy breaking the boy’s legs one bone at a time. 

_”If you say that you are mine, I’ll be here ‘til the end of time!”_

The Soldier stood up, but was knocked aside, this time by a wooden baseball bat. “No one gets to bully these shits but me!” A teenage boy shouted, looking frantic. The Soldier raised its metal arm to block the bat as it came down again, but the arm squeaked, choosing the worst time to flake out. The bat hit the Soldier in the side of the head, and as enhanced as the Soldier was, as impervious to pain as it was trained to be, it still stung like a bitch. 

_”So you got to let me know, should I stay or should I go?”_

The noise got louder, the commotion of the room overwhelming. The Soldier shook its head, trying to focus, grab the teenage boy and break him in half, but something tugged harshly on its metal arm. It looked back, seeing the children had managed to rope the metal arm, with five of them-and a teenage girl-pulling back on the rope, dragging the Soldier across the floor, while the teenager still beat it with the baseball bat.

_”It’s always tease, tease, tease. You’re happy when I’m on my knees.”_

_”Soldier!”_ The teenage girl shouted, and the Soldier glanced at her, somewhat confused. Was she a handler? She was younger than the others. _”Coming! They are!”_ She shouted, still yanking on the rope.

_”One day it’s fine the next it’s black, so if you want me off your back...come on and let me know!”_

Fury suddenly shot through the Soldier as it understood. This was no handler. She was a liar, a whore who happened to know who it was, and was trying to tear it away from its mission. 

_”Should I stay or should I go?”_

That was unacceptable.

_”Should I stay or should I go now?”_

The Soldier jerked its hand, grabbing onto the rope and pulling forward with all its strength. Children-even several of them-were no match for the Winter Soldier.

_”Should I stay or should I go now?”_

The bat came down, more desperate to beat the Soldier into submission now, but the Soldier caught the bat in its now freed metal hand, ripping it out of the teenager’s grip. At the same moment, its real hand drew a small handgun. The Soldier preferred its tactical rifle, but this would do the job, especially at such close range.

_”If I go there will be trouble, and if I stay there will be double.”_

There was the echoing **BANG** of a gunshot, drowning out the music for a moment. The Soldier pushed the teenager back, ignoring the teenage girl scream “STEVE!”, relishing the look of shock and pain on the face of this ‘Steve’ as his shirt became soaked with blood. The teenage girl raced to him, pushing her hands down to apply pressure to the wound, but it didn’t matter. He’d be back for her momentarily, and then for Steve if he was still alive. 

_”So come on and let me know!”_

A weaker pulse of energy hit the Soldier in the back, and it turned, seeing the young boy target, holding out some sort of glove, which was sparking and glowing weakly. His face paled as the Soldier charged him, grabbing his throat with a silver hand. 

_”This indecision's bugging me. If you don’t want me, set me free.”_

The Soldier lifted the boy into the air, not quite crushing his windpipe, but close to it. The boy gasped, clawing at the immovable vibranium arm that held him up. The Soldier fired at the children, who dove out of the way. “Tony!” One of them cried.

_Exactly whom I’m supposed to be, don’t you which clothes even fit me?”_

The Winter Soldier squeezed the boy’s throat tighter, and the boy wheezed, eyes bulging. It wouldn’t be long before he lost consciousness, and then the Soldier could find the other target and leave. 

_”Come on and let me know…”_

“B…” The boy rasped. “Barnes.”

_”Should I cool it or should I blow it?”_

The metal arm’s grip loosened, though not from the Soldier’s volition. The boy dropped to the ground, and gasped, coughing harshly, gulping air like a man in the desert gulps water. 

The Soldier stumbled back, knocking into the cassette player. The machine tumbled to the ground, and it broke into several pieces.

The sound stopped, and now the most deafening noise was the sound of the Soldier’s breathing.

_Barnes Barnes Barnes Barnes Barnes Barnes-_

“Bucky.” A quiet voice said, and the Soldier whirled around, seeing the girl.

Its target. 

Fumbling _(you’ll be wiped for sure now)_ for his gun, it stepped back, but the gun was knocked out of its hand by an invisible force. The Soldier froze, held in place by this child with a bloody nose and tear-filled eyes.

“You know me.” The girl said.

“I don’t.” The Soldier snarled, trying to sound sure, but its doubts seeped into its voice. 

“My name is Eleven. El. You met me on Christmas Eve, years ago. You gave me a stuffed tiger.” The girl gasped, straining with the effort to keep the Soldier still.

“I don’t!” The Soldier shouted, forcing itself to take another step forward, crying out in pain as it saw it, the Soldier _saw_ the memory buried underneath wipe after wipe of giving a young, scared girl a toy tiger, and the Winter Soldier, Hydra’s Angel of Death, had wanted to reach out-

_-reach out and comfort this child who somehow found her way to hell what is she doing here she shouldn’t be here run run run they’ll hurt you I know they will I know they have it’s too late for me I’m a monster now but I can take you and run with you and tell you it’s okay because despite being good and kind and having hands that aren’t stained no matter how much you scrub them you’re still here and I need to save you before they make you like me-_

“You’re not a monster.” The girl-El-said, tears running freely down her eyes.

The Soldier gave a choked laugh, despite the situation being the farthest thing from funny he could imagine.

“Kill me.” The Soldier said. No, he was asking. He was begging. If El released him, he wouldn’t attack. He would use the last of his autonomy to ask her to give him a quick death, and if she refused, he would just shoot himself. 

El’s face screwed up, grief renewed. “No.” She said. “You’re not a monster. Your name is Bucky Barnes.”

“Stop.” He said, voice low, gritting his teeth to keep from shouting. Why wouldn’t she end it?!

“You’re best friend was Steve Rogers, Captain America.” El continued, straining to keep her grip on him.

“STOP!” He yelled this time, desperate to make the pain end, go back to the blissful blankness of a wipe, instead of all these awful memories flooding back to him, either relics of all he had lost, or movies of the atrocities he had done.

“They called you the Winter Soldier, and they called you Four. But that doesn’t matter. You’re James Buchanan Barnes, and you’re my older brother!” El cried.

He cried-no, cried wasn’t the right word. He howled, like an animal trapped in a steel claw that had already tried everything to escape, including clawing itself to bits, and now just wanted it to end. He yanked away, escaping El’s grip, and collapsed to his hands and knees, suddenly going perfectly still.

El panted, feeling blood run freely down her upper lip, but she didn’t dare make a move to wipe it away. The Winter Soldier, no, Four. No, Bucky (brother) stared at the ground, eyes hidden. All at once, he shuddered, and El heard Tony wheeze. She shot him a warning look, and he paused, but nodded, trusting her. 

El crept towards the shaking man slowly. “Bucky?” She asked, voice barely above a whisper. His eyes slowly lifted to meet her’s. How odd that they shared no blood, yet they shared the same eyes. 

“The tiger.” His voice was hoarse, and it reminded her of Hopper for some reason. Like ragged, exhausted, but fierce love. “You kept it?” 

El felt more tears spring to her eyes. “I asked Hopper to find it, but he couldn’t. It was my only toy.”

Bucky laughed. Or maybe it was a sob, it was hard to tell. “God,” He said, turning his shaking hands over and staring at them in horror. “You’ve grown.” He told her.

He collapsed into dry, hacking sobs. El dropped to her knees, hugging her older brother tightly. 

“God,” Bucky repeated. “God.”

“The monsters are gone.” El assured him, in a whisper meant only for him.

She slowly felt him lean into her, as if unsure she was real. Two arms, one human and one vibranium, enveloped her. 

“God.” Bucky said.


	16. Some Things Never Change

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow quarantine is really not doing me any favors

“Is he dead?”

“Of course not, Loki. You can see him breathing.”

“He’s very close to being dead. We ought to put him out of his misery-”

“You will do no such thing.”

“Oh, calm down. It was a joke.”

“Not a very funny one.”

Peter winced, the voices around him sounding impossibly loud. “Ow….” He groaned, feeling like a metal spike was going through his head. 

“He’s awake!” One of the people said, the one who found the jokes unfunny. “See, I told you so.”

“Congratulations.” The other voice said, sounding bored. 

“Guys, can you back off?” A third, new voice said. “Hey, kid. You’re alright. Can you hear me?”

Peter forced his eyes open, and immediately shut them again when the lights of the tower seemed impossibly bright. The sun was out. How long had he been out of commision? “Can you...turn down the lights please? Migraine…” 

“Jarvis-I mean, F.R.I.D.A.Y, can you turn down the lights? Put up blinds?” Why did their voices sound so familiar? 

The lights went down, and Peter opened his eyes again, and jerked up. “Dr. Banner-” The quick movement was evidently too much for his body to handle, and he leaned to the side and puked.

“Oh, lovely.” Someone else said.

Peter gagged, sputtering, desperately trying to control himself. He just vomited in front of _Doctor Bruce Banner_, and Avenger and genius. 

Banner looked at him with pity. “Alright, you’re okay.” Banner grabbed his arm, helping him up.

“Sorry.” Peter rasped, glancing around at the others in the room. A woman he had never seen before was standing to the side, arms crossed, stoic looking. She reminded him of MJ.

“Is he alright?” Another said, and Peter blanched.

“T-Thor?!” He stuttered. The man smiled slightly. His hair was cut short, and he had a patch of bronze covering his eye, but it was unmistakably the God of Thunder. Great. Peter had thrown up in front of two Avengers. 

The third figure stood off in the shadows, as though he was trying not to be seen. It was the man who had told Peter he was covered in blood, and he seemed familiar, but-

Peter squeaked, trying to stumble away from Loki, the crazed maniac who had nearly destroyed New York six years ago. Loki raised his eyebrows, and sighed, looking nonplussed. “I told you this would be a bad idea.” He muttered.

“Don’t worry, kid.” Banner said, maybe trying to sound reassuring, but he sounded vaguely pleading. “Loki’s...uh, how would you describe it Thor?”

“He no longer wishes to take over Earth.” Thor said proudly. 

“Do not tell me what I wish or do not wish to do.” Loki snapped, but he didn’t make a move to kill anyone, so Peter decided to assume he was being snappy to preserve his reputation. 

“Great,” Peter said. “I puked in front of two Avengers and a supervillain. And...sorry, I don’t know who you are.” Peter glanced at the woman, who smiled slightly now.

“Valkyrie.” She said, nodding towards Peter. “That was quite the lightshow you put on for us.”

Peter felt his face go hot. “Thanks.” 

“I did not know Midgard had sorcerers.” Loki said, sounding interested.

“Oh, uh, it’s not...magic…” Peter trailed off, realizing he really didn’t want to discuss this, especially with Loki of all people. 

Loki, thankfully, only raised his eyebrows, but did not pursue the topic. “Now,” Thor said. “Do you happen to know where Tony Stark is?”

“He should be here now.” Peter said, suddenly worried. Had he gotten held up? Maybe. That way it would be easier for Ross to sneak in and...and...Peter winced at the idea. 

“Who are you? What are you doing here?” Banner asked, his voice not quite an accusation, but close. Peter immediately felt nervous, mind suddenly blanking out on every bit of sound reasoning there was. 

“Uh-” 

A loud alarm blared, and the covers over the windows instantly snapped up. Peter yelped, stumbling back in surprise. “Emergency protocol 34-D enacted.” F.R.I.D.A.Y said, and an empty autopilot Iron Man suit rocketed out of one of the secret tunnels in the corner. It rocketed straight towards Loki, and the man stumbled backwards, looking startled.

“Wait, no!” Thor said, looking shocked, and he tackled the suit. Banner grit his teeth, looking like he was forcibly trying to not join the fight. Peter hoped he would succeed. The Hulk was cool, but Peter didn’t want a closeup demonstration right now.

“Stark! Stop this!” Thor shouted, though Peter was unsure if Tony could hear them. “Loki is no threat! Valkyrie-”

“I don’t need your help-” Loki ducked when the empty suit managed to shoot out a pulse of energy that would have almost certainly blown up the god’s head had he not moved in time.

Peter yanked away from Banner, even though the movement made him stumble. “F.R.I.D.A.Y, disengage! Disengage now!”

The suit powered down, and Thor breathed a sigh of relief. Loki stood up, dusting himself off in an attempt to look nonchalant. “I’m disappointed, but not surprised. I told you this is a bad idea.” He said.

“Oh, shut up. We’re not gonna make everyone else float through space just because you don’t want to face the consequences of your own actions.” Valkyrie snapped.

Banner, however, was looking at Peter with interest. “You have access to F.R.I.D.A.Y? Just like that?” He looked surprised. “Who _are_ you?”

“Um-” Peter said, but he was interrupted by the whine of a suit. This time, the suit contained Tony as it busted through the window. 

“Tony-” Thor said, stepping in front of Loki, and he was rewarded by being shot back with a powerful blast of energy. Two knives appeared in Loki’s hands, and he crouched, looking like a cornered animal. 

“Wait wait, Tony!” Banner’s voice seemed to cut through Tony’s panic over Peter, and he paused, the faceplate flipping up. 

“Bruce?” Tony said, clearly shocked. “And...holy shit, Thor?! Why the hell is this greasy weasel in my tower?!” Tony held up his hands, a low whine of energy building up for a fatal blow to Loki. 

Thor scrambled up. “Tony no! Wait! He’s not going to hurt anyone!” 

“He already hurt a lot of people! I thought he was dead!” Tony snapped.

“I faked my death.” Loki said coolly, still clutching the knives tightly. 

“He fucking what?!”

“Tony.” Bruce said quietly, though somehow his voice seemed to carry. “Please. We’re all confused and freaked out here, but if we just...you know, put down our weapons…”

There was a long, tense moment, and Peter could almost hear Tony’s inner debate, wondering whether it was worth it to just take out Loki now or wait. Finally, he landed on the ground, lowering his hands. The knives disappeared, and Loki smoothed his hair back, still not looking comfortable.

“What happened to your eye?” Tony asked Thor.

*** *** ***

“-Steve? Steve, oh my God, oh God...Steve can you hear me?!”

Steve winced, his stomach throbbing painfully. “Ow…” He muttered, prying an eye open. Why was he lying on the ground? The last thing he remembered was beating the Winter Soldier with a baseball bat, and doing a good job of it. And then there was a gunshot…

“Shit.” Steve said.

“Oh my God!” Robin’s voice said. “Steve, are you okay? Can you hear me?!”

“You’re shouting.” Lucas said.

“Oh, sorry-”

“Did we win?” Steve asked. He blinked his eyes, trying to focus, and gave a strangled yelp when he saw the Winter Soldier leaning over him, although he oddly looked like he was no longer made of stone.

“Don’t worry!” El said. “Bucky’s helping us.”

“He tried to kill me!” Steve squeaked. “He fucking shot me!” 

The Winter Soldier winced, and Steve realized he was pressing on his stomach, probably to apply pressure to the wound. “I’m sorry.” The man said quietly. 

“Sorry doesn’t cut it! You fucking _shot_ me!” Steve snapped. 

“Do you know where the adults are?” Will asked the Winter Soldier suddenly.

He paused, and then shook his head slowly. “They didn’t say anything about that. I know Agent Carter is here, but that’s it.”

“They haven’t come back yet.” El said, sounding worried. “Are they okay?” 

Will looked suddenly very scared. “My mom and brother are there. What if…” He trailed off, not wanting to finish his thought.

“Bucky, are you sure you don’t know?” El asked.

The Winter Soldier-Bucky-screwed his face up in concentration. “I...I think there’s an ambush.”

“Shit.” Dustin said quietly. 

Bucky nodded to Robin, gesturing her over. “Here. I’ll call emergency services, and you keep pressure on the wound. He should be okay.” 

“What-are you leaving me behind?! I can help!” Steve protested.

Bucky smiled wanly. “You have a hole in your stomach-sorry again-and you’re in no shape to punch Nazis.” 

Steve cursed. “I’m in peak condition.”

“Shut the hell up, dingus.” Robin said, moving quickly to take Bucky’s place. Steve winced. 

Bucky sighed. “You remind me a lot of another Steve. El, can you guard the house, just in case more people come?”

El scowled. “I’m coming with you.”

Bucky frowned. “No way. You’ve done enough already. I don’t want you near them.”

“Already was near them. You need help.” El said.

Tony nodded, stepping up next to El. “I can help too.”

Bucky shook his head. “I’m not gonna be responsible for you kids getting hurt.” 

“Not trying to guilt trip you here, but you did try to suffocate me. If you let me and El help you, I’ll call it even.” Tony said, grinning lopsidedly. 

“That’s...no. I’ll buy you a bike or something...what do kids like these days?” Bucky said, looking exasperated.

“We like kicking Nazi ass.” Dustin said.

“None of you are coming.” Bucky waved to the remaining kids, ignoring Max when she flipped him off. “None of you have any sort of power or skill, no offense-”

“So me and Tony are coming?” El asked excitedly.

“No no, I didn’t say that-”

“Here’s the deal,” Tony said. “You can either take us with you, and we can make up a plan together, or we can follow you anyway and thus have a greater chance of getting us all killed.”

Bucky scowled, glaring at all the kids for a long moment, but they all glared back with a spunk to be admired, even as most of them were no older than fourteen. Bucky sighed, pulling a small handgun out of his jacket. “Anyone know how to use this?” 

“Pull back the glock and shoot, right?” Mike said. The others glanced at him and he turned red. “What? I watch movies.”

“God, this is such a bad idea.” Bucky said quietly, handing Mike the gun. “For the love of God, don’t use this unless you absolutely have too.”

Mike nodded, but he still fought a triumphant smile. Bucky turned to El and Tony. “If you’re gonna follow me, you gotta do exactly as I say, when I say it. Got it? No fooling around, or you or someone else is going to die.”

Tony and El nodded, looking serious. Bucky sighed once again, running a hand down his face. “God, this is such a bad idea.” He repeated. He picked up his dropped assault rifle, checking the magazine. 

“You have five minutes. Then it’s go time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> who's the more iconic duo: Thor and Loki, Steve and Bucky, or Steve and Robin?

**Author's Note:**

> come chat with me about how gay we are for robin and see updates on my tumblr!  
https://www.tumblr.com/blog/toadintheroad


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